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TEHRAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Tuesday a recent U.S. report skeptical toward the legitimacy of the Islamic republic's elections, reported Press TV on Tuesday.
"Elections in Iran are free, clean, competitive and democratic," Rouhani said in response to the human rights report issued by the U.S. Department of State which questioned the Islamic republic's electoral process.
"I think those critical of elections in Iran need to consider the recent presidential elections in the United States and the problems they faced," he was quoted as saying.
Rouhani's comments regarding the U.S. presidential elections referring to the ongoing protests against Donald Trump's election as the new President of the United States.
The U.S. Department of State's human rights report concerning Iran implied there were "severe restrictions on civil liberties" including freedom of speech, congregations, elections, religious expression and freedom of the press in the Islamic republic in 2016.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi also dismissed the U.S. report, adding "due to its appalling and somber human rights record, whether domestically or internationally, the U.S. government is in no position to comment on the state of human rights in other countries."
Qasemi said no existing international organization nor law authorizes the U.S. government to unilaterally critique human rights statuses worldwide on political grounds.
