UN report criticizes Iran on human rights abuse

A recent United Nations report has detailed widespread human rights abuses in Iran, with minority religious groups being subjected to discrimination and often arrested at random and tortured.

Special U.N. reporter Ahmed Shaheed condemned the rise in the number of journalists being detained in Iran prisons over the past decade, as also on the hundreds of executions of drug traffickers, Fox News reports.

However, Shaheed said the release of more than a dozen political prisoners recently was appreciable and raised hopes for change after receiving positive signals from President Hassan Rouhani.