West’s Double-Standard Approach to Human Rights Violations Sign of Hypocrisy: Iran's President

President Raeisi made the remarks on Monday in reaction to recent mass execution of 81 inmates in Saudi Arabia, who were put to death on alleged charges of terrorism, most of whom, however, were jailed on political grounds and for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

“We condemn application of double standards [to human rights violations] by Western countries and instrumental use of the concept of human rights as well as the silence and inaction of countries that claim to be advocates of these rights,” Iran’s chief executive said.

Raeisi added that such double-standard approach to human rights “reveals the hypocrisy of these [Western] countries that exploit the concept of human rights in the service of their own political goals and against independent governments.”

“International organizations, the free media and concerned [international] bodies must end their silence in this regard,” he said.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said in an announcement on Saturday that Saudi Arabia had executed 81 prisoners in a single day over ‘terror-related offenses,’ in the largest mass execution carried out by the highly-conservative Arab kingdom in recent memory.

It added that the executed inmates included seven Yemenis and a Syrian, alleging that the suspects had been convicted of a variety of crimes, including killings and membership in militant groups.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Sunday strongly condemned the mass execution of over 80 people by the Saudi government, describing it as an inhumane measure that contravenes the basic principles of human rights and international law.