While the Islamic Republic is not a stranger to such condemnations, it has been condemned almost every year since its birth over 30 years ago, it is a mistake to attribute the violations to the state of Iran. After all states do not commit crimes; individuals do. Just a quick look at the history of the last century, shows us that the history has not been in shortage of dictators. There have been many people in the past who considered themselves as political leaders, revolutionary leaders, head of states ... etc; and they all committed worst possible crimes against humanity that one could not even imagine. Examples are people like Joseph Stalin of Russia, Pol pot of Cambodia and more recent one, Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
In these cases it was not the state of Russia, Cambodia or Iraq which committed crimes but the individual leaders did. This view has been supported by the ICC (the international Criminal Court) in recent cases of Charles Ghankay Taylor, former Liberian president, and Omar Al-Bashir, the current president of Sudan. Both have been indicted for their committed crimes in the respective countries. Furthermore, while the UN itself, since its inception in 1945 and for whatever reasons, mainly politics which may have been justified in the past, had always restrained from directing its criticisms or condemnations to individuals, it has been slowly but surely drifted from this approach in recent decades.
Today however, the UN has condemned the state of Iran for the violation of human rights. But according to the foregoing examples, the state of Iran is not, and has never been, able to violate human rights or commit crimes against humanity. But the individuals in power such as Ali Khameneei and his Revolutionary Guards generals are, and most probably have been. They are those whom must be held responsible for their actions and condemned; not the state of Iran.
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