In an interview broadcast last Friday, a Euronews reporter asked Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Iranian judiciary s Human Rights Council, if he was proud that Iran leads the world in executions per capita. In response, Larijani said: Not at all, we are very much unhappy and uneasy about that and we are trying hard to change the laws which are bringing that situation about. As you know and I [have] said several times [...] more than almost 80% of these executions [are] stemming from narcotic drug related crimes. I think if we change the law [on narcotics], 80% of our executions will be dropped.

On the eve of Iran's defense of its human rights record Friday before a key United Nations panel, a lawyer for the woman executed in the Islamic Republic over the weekend for allegedly killing her attempted rapist accused the regime of widespread torture and murder. "Because Reyhaneh Jabbari's case created a lot of attention inside and outside of Iran, a lot of people tried to save Reyhaneh Jabbari, but because of the power of Iran, on Saturday, they hanged her," Iranian Human Rights Attorney Mohammed Mostafaei.

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran delivered a searing indictment of Western and Arab states on Thursday in his annual speech to the United Nations, blaming them for sowing the seeds of extremism in the Middle East with "strategic blunders" that have given rise to the Islamic State and other violent jihadist groups. "Certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hands of madmen, who now spare no one," Mr. Rouhani said, adding that "all those who have played a role in founding and supporting these terror groups must acknowledge their errors" and apologize.

Ban Ki-moon's annual report on human rights in Iran expressed concern at executions in the country and what it called the limitations imposed on the press. In response Iranian officials blasted Ban Ki-moon's report to the UN General Assembly as "unjust" and "biased". Secretary of Iran's Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani strongly criticized the UN chief for presenting an insulting report on the human rights conditions in Iran. "One of the West's tactics for inducing the wrong ideas against those countries that are not conforming to its interests is repeating the same lie in different shapes and by different means," Larijani said, addressing a forum of Iran's Human Rights Council in Tehran last week.

The United States said on Monday that it expected the United Nations to withdraw its invitation to Iran to attend the peace conference on Syria that is scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Switzerland.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to take part in preliminary Syrian peace talks this week in Switzerland, an offer Tehran has accepted. Mr Ban said he had received assurances that Iran would play a positive role in securing a transitional government. But Syria's main opposition group said it would withdraw from the talks unless Mr Ban retracted the offer to Iran.