u/ThanksToDenial

Should be noted, that said letter is one of identical letters that every single UN Member state receives each year, on their respective national holidays.

https://press.un.org/en/2026/db260211.doc.htm

So, the letter that went out from the Secretary-General is a standard letter that goes out to every member States on their national holiday, and this has been a tradition for decades. Every year, each Member State gets the exact same letter, right? Congratulating on their national holiday and conveying best wishes to the people of that country. As I said, the letters went out yesterday to Iran, Gambia, and Lithuania, if I'm not mistaken. So, like I said, it's a decades long tradition. And I said, each Member State gets the exact same letter. It should not be interpreted by anyone who receives it as an endorsement of whatever policies may be going, that Government may be putting in place. It doesn't change the Secretary-General's view of the crackdown that we saw in Iran, which he called horrendous given the level of violence and deaths that we saw.

I do find it fascinating that there is outrage about Iran receiving said letter, but not when Russia, or Sudan, or North Korea, or Israel, or DRC, or any of the other countries doing horrendous things, received the same letter on their national holiday, while they were engaged in their own atrocities... Why is that?

I actually think it is accurate to call Herzog the Head of State.

Herzog, legally speaking, is the Head of State. Which in a system like Israel has, is a largely symbolic role. They are the figurehead. A symbol of national unity.

Netanyahu, legally speaking, is the Head of Government. They basically run everything. Administration, policy and the executive branch.

As for immunity... well, Herzog isn't wanted any international criminal courts or tribunals as far as i know, so his Head of State immunity should apply. Same can't be said for Netanyahu though. He is wanted by the ICC. And no immunity granted by official capacity applies in front of international criminal courts or tribunals.

This is all on top of the fact that Iran is on the Human Rights Committee

Except they aren't. Last time they got on the Human Rights Committee was in 1978, before the Iranian Revolution.

The same United Nations that appointed Iran as chair of the Human Rights Council?

Iran has never been a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/hrcmembers

Hell, the Human Rights Council doesn't even have a chairperson. It has a President.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/presidency

Iran sits on the UN Human Rights Council...

Iran is not, nor has it ever been, a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

You can just google "unhrc members research", and it should give you the official UN research guide on UNHRC as the top result, which contains a list of every single county that has ever been a member of the council dating back to when it was first created, if you want to confirm what i just said. Should take you about 30 seconds to do so.

giving countries like Iran to be head of human right councils

Iran has never even been a member of the UN human rights council though, let alone it's head...

I mean, i got the official list of all members of UNHRC, dating back to it's creation right here:

https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/hrcmembers

And you can find the current and former "heads" of the council here, for good measure:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/presidency

The UN is a biased organisation that thinks it's fine for Iran to lead on human rights.

How does Iran "lead Human Rights" at the UN exactly?

The only position Iranian representative has held in relation to Human Rights at the UN, was a being a Chair-rapporteur for a small two day event about technology and it's applications regarding human rights, in October of 2023, called the Social Forum.

Or maybe you are counting Iran being on the Asia-Pacific Regional groups internal working group for human rights or something similarly misguided?

If you'd rather listen to an organisation that puts Iran on the human rights council

Iran is not, nor has it ever been, a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

Also, UN Watch? Really? That's about as credible source as Rossiyskaya Gazeta. It's infamous for its bias and Disinformation.