The Two Faces of the UN

  

United Nations falls silent on Iranian massacres of its own people whilst repeatedly hammering Israel for reacting to the massacres of October 7th, which were bankrolled by the same Iranian regime

It’s hardly a shock these days to see the United Nations twisting itself into knots over Israel whilst turning a blind eye to genuine tyrants. A fresh report from the watchdog group UN Watch has pulled back the curtain on this farce, revealing how UN experts who can’t stop laying the boot into Israel have barely said a word about Iran’s blood soaked repression and its cosy ties with terrorism. As the Iranian regime ramps up its execution spree, most of these so called experts haven’t bothered with even a single condemnation. It’s like watching a referee blow the whistle on one team for breathing too heavily while letting the other side run amok. These people just cannot be trusted to be balanced. That much is clear. 

The report digs deep into the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteurs, those supposed guardians of global decency, and what it uncovers is a masterclass in moral gymnastics. With Iran crushing protests after slaughtering thousands of demonstrators, the silence from most of these 54 experts is deafening. Executions are surging, minorities like the Persian Baha’i faith are persecuted with glee, and women face violent crackdowns, yet the experts whose jobs cover these horrors haven’t issued a peep. Out of 87 rapporteurs, only five backed or endorsed the official slap on Iran’s wrist, dropped on January 13th, well after the protests kicked off and the regime’s thugs were already in full swing in their blood letting. Beyond that, just a smattering of social media posts. It’s almost comical how these champions of human rights pick their battles, or rather, duke the hard ones.

Take the UN expert on freedom of religion, for instance. While Baha’i homes in Iran are getting bulldozed and dozens of families are being jailed just for believing differently, this rapporteur sits on their hands, not a statement in sight. The same goes for the right to life expert, who apparently thinks sham trials and hangings in Iran don’t merit a mention. The report highlights a spike in executions, often after kangaroo courts without a shred of due process, but the international response? Tepid at best. Meanwhile, these same folks churn out condemnations against Western nations and Israel by the barrow-load, yet Iran gets a free pass on mass killings and journalist muzzling. It’s as if human rights only matter when they can be weaponised against the Jewish state or against western democracies.

UN Watch doesn’t mince words in comparing Iran’s kid glove treatment to the relentless onslaught against Israel. Experts who wouldn’t dream of condemning Iran’s protester killings, despite mountains of evidence, are quick to pen scathing attacks on the Jewish state. They name and shame those who abuse their mandates to hammer Israel while ignoring dictatorships. Israel gets flak for defending itself or building homes in Judea and Samaria, but Iran? Supplying arms to terrorists, quashing uprisings over basics like water and bread, even poisoning schoolgirls, and not a peep. It’s the kind of hypocrisy that would be laughable if it weren’t so insidious.

Look at Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the so-called Palestinian territories. She’s all fire and brimstone against Israel, spitting out words like “apartheid” and “genocide,” pushing for arms embargoes to ensure the Jewish state can no longer defend itself. Yet she turns a blind eye to Iran’s hand in arming and bankrolling the very terrorists who are destabilising the entire Middle East region. Hardly even a pursed lip. Then there’s Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the housing rights expert, who jumps on Israel for demolitions but stays mum when Iranian forces raze Baha’i homes to the ground. Hillel Neuer, UN Watch’s executive director, nails it perfectly: “When they stay silent in the face of Tehran and scream abuse in the face of Jerusalem, they lose all legitimacy.” He adds that their silence is basically a thumbs up for the ayatollahs to keep dangling dissidents from cranes. 

This double standard reeks of something darker, especially when you factor in the trendy far-left pro Palestine crowd who amplify it. These types wail endlessly about casualties in Gaza, where Israel’s dragged into defensive battles against Hamas rockets and tunnels, but they can’t muster a murmur for the brutal butchering of protesters in Iran. It’s the height of selective outrage, crying rivers of tears over self defence operations while shrugging at a regime that hangs its own people for daring to speak up against their government. Where’s the fury for Iranian women beaten for defying hijab rules, or journalists thrown in dungeons? Apparently Jewish lives defending themselves don’t count, but ayatollah atrocities get a pass. It’s not just inconsistent, it’s insidious, smacking of an anti-Semitic undercurrent that dresses up as concern for Palestinians. If you’re going to play the human rights card, at least be consistent, or admit it’s all about your blood lust in hating Jews, which usually masquerades as hating "Israel", or hating "Zionists". But we all know that's just a fig leaf for the real thing. 

The report wraps up with a rallying cry for democratic nations to yank funding from these biased setups and push for real reform in how experts are picked. “It's unacceptable that an expert charged with defending freedom of expression ignores the arrest of hundreds of journalists in Iran, yet finds time to condemn Israel week after week,” it states. And the examples keep coming: while Iran’s crackdown got a delayed, half hearted response, 19 UN experts piled on to blast the US just four days after arresting Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro on January 7, 2026. Similarly, after Israel’s clever pager strike on Hezbollah terrorists on September 17, 2024, 22 experts condemned it as a “terrifying violation of international law” over the course of the following 48hrs (by September 19). Swift condemnation for Israel, snail’s pace and a half hearted tut-tut for Iran. It’s enough to make you wonder if the UN stands for United Nations or Unequal Nagging.

In the end, this report is a wake up call. The UN’s almost manic obsession with Israel while ignoring Iran’s horrors exposes a rotten core. It erodes trust in global institutions and gives succour to the real villains. For Israel and the Jewish people, constantly under the microscope for simply existing and for daring to defend themselves, it’s yet another reminder that fairness is a rare commodity in the halls of the UN. But perhaps, with exposés like this, the tide can turn. After all, sunlight really is the best disinfectant, even for the murkiest of international bureaucracies.