ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A UN Human Rights Council resolution critical of Iran's rights record has been met with Tehran's strong condemnation, according to reports by the country's state media on Friday. 

Ali Bahraini, Iran's representative to its permanent mission in the UN Office in Geneva, slammed the resolution as "discriminatory," saying it was issued under "unjustified mechanisms." 

His statement was released one day after the council adopted the draft resolution at its 58th session, urging Iran "to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and media workers."

The Iranian envoy, however, dismissed the document, claiming that it would thrust the council "into a new quagmire of inefficiency and waste of resources," while undermining trust in its performance. 

The resolution has highlighted Iran's perceived failures in securing the right to freedom of expression, across both online and offline spheres—as well as the rights to peaceful assembly and association. It has also accused the Iranian authorities of "arbitrarily" detaining individuals for exercising their fundamental liberties. 

Iranian media said the resolution had been pushed by Western adversaries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada, whom Bahraini accused of having tried to "mislead" the council by projecting "a false picture" of Iran's human rights situation. 

To the Iranian envoy, the move by the proponents was "deceptive," as he called on the council to fight back against its "political abuse at the hands of certain states."

Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic has faced mounting criticism from international rights organizations and independent advocacy groups over a "systematic" denial of basic human rights to its citizens. 

The record has been particularly under the spotlight since September 2022, in the wake of the Mahsa (Jina) Amini unrest that rocked the nation following the death in police custody of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman.

In their heavy-handed response to the months-long protests, Iranian security forces killed over 550 demonstrators, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization. 

Over 22,000 were also sent behind bars, with at least ten protesters executed following speedy trials, denounced by Human Rights Watch as  "a gross miscarriage of justice."