UN adopts Canada-led resolution on Iran's rights abuses

The non-binding measure passed on Thursday as members like Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Iraq voted against while Canada, the US, UK, France, Israel, Japan and Australia were among those in favor.

"There has been a record number of executions this year as serious as any time since 1980,” former Canadian UN ambassador Bob Rae told Iran International.

Amnesty International on October urged an immediate halt to executions, saying more than 1,000 had been recorded so far in 2025, many following unfair trials aimed at silencing dissent and persecuting minorities.

“Canada consults Iranian civil society and the UN Special Rapporteur during drafting.. But also diplomatic compromises dilute language to gain votes, with abstentions reflecting caution or fear of reprisals,” Rae said.

The initiative began in 2003 after Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi's death in custody.

While the UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding, Rae said the resolution's value in maintaining scrutiny. "It's about documenting abuses, warning that the world is watching, and refusing to normalize what is happening."

Canada shuttered its embassy and cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 over what it called security concerns for its diplomats and Iran’s alleged support for terrorism and human-rights abuses.

Ottawa has levied a series of sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses since the Women, Life Freedom protest movement after the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality police custody in 2022.