Tehran, Iran, Nov. 7
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Citizens’ rights charter of Iran, currently being developed, will boost the country’s negotiation power as it is going to sit for human rights talks with the European Union, Elham Aminzadeh, President Hassan Rouhani’s assistant on citizenship rights, said.
“This is because the charter is very comprehensive and includes diverse topics, even the rights of foreign nationals in Iran and Iranian nationals overseas,” she told Trend November 6.
The charter will be published in a matter of days, according to Aminzadeh.
Iran and the EU will sit together in Brussels on November 9 for the first time since the conclusion of the nuclear deal to exchange ideas on human rights, one major sticking point in bilateral ties.
The human rights debate has increasingly emerged as an important component for stronger ties between the two sides.
Aminzadeh said that the government and judiciary are working closely in preparation for the talks with the EU, adding that the talks will have rather a “constructive” nature.
In a recent document on the future of relations with post-sanctions Iran, the EU has particularly expressed opposition to Iran’s use of the death penalty as punishment for drug traffickers.
Last week Hassan Norouzi, a spokesman with the Iranian Parliament’s Legal and Judicial Committee, announced a motion signed by 76 legislators would be brought to the Parliament in an effort to rethink capital punishment for drug smugglers.
The motion, if passed, will rule out the capital punishment for first-time drug smugglers, many of whom are juveniles.