Iran’s war of words with the US has moved into the realm of human trafficking, with Tehran claiming that Washington and not the Islamic Republic is responsible for “global human smuggling”.
The Foreign Ministry responded on Thursday to a US State Department report, published on Tuesday, which said Iran is a source, transit site, and destination for men, women and children being moved against their will.
The State Department report focused on the routes of movement. In contrast, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi (pictured) claimed a wider context of US foreign policy for the problem:
The root cause of human trafficking should be seen in the unilateral, interventionist and aggressive policies as well as occupation, wars of attrition, terrorism and genocide, in a majority of which the military and security forces of the US and some of its allies have a hand.
Qassemi criticized the US “baseless allegations” against Iran, insisting that American officials “lack the required competence and legitimacy” to compile reports concerning other countries.
The State Department said that while the Rouhani Government “took some steps to address trafficking”, including some centers for assistance to trafficking victims and cooperation with some countries in the region, there was a “lack of significant efforts”. It specifically cited the coercion by the Iranian regime, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, of Afghan migrants and registered refugees — “including boys as young as 12” — to fight in militias propping up Syria’s Assad regime.
Tehran is not a party to the international Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking In Persons.
