TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani deplored biased policies adopted by the West on the issue of human rights, saying the West accuses Iran of violating human rights while it is turning a blind eye to the Israeli and Saudi atrocities in Palestine and Yemen.
It is unacceptable to see the West accusing Iran of human rights violations on the basis of bogus and unsubstantiated allegations, Larijani said in a meeting with chairman of the Belgian Federal Parliament’s foreign affairs and international relations committee, Dirk Van der Maelen, in Tehran on Sunday.
Denouncing the West’s double standards on human rights, Larijani said Westerners are ignoring 70 years of Israeli crimes against Palestinians or the killing of Yemeni people in the Saudi regime’s military attacks.
He also took a swipe at the US and its regional allies for using terrorism as a tool, saying Washington lacks the will to combat terrorism.
For his part, Van der Maelen voiced the Belgian parliament’s opposition to the killing of people in Palestine, Syria, Yemen and other regional countries, saying Brussels, like Tehran, urges political approaches and negotiations to settle the conflicts.
The visiting Belgian lawmaker also hailed Iran as a “major and historical” country in the region and the world, expressing his country’s willingness to boost political, economic and parliamentary relations with Iran.
Earlier in February, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders expressed his country’s great enthusiasm for expanding relations with Iran, particularly in the economic arena.