The report quoted one U.S. human rights official as saying "Iran's out." "The issue of notorious human rights abusers sitting in judgment of others on UN human rights bodies has bedeviled the UN system for decades, and was one of the major factors that brought down the [Council's] predecessor body, the Commission on Human Rights," he said on condition of anonymity Friday.
According to POLITICO, the failure of Iranian regime's bid, after aggressive lobbying in New York, African capitals, and elsewhere, is "a big embarrassment for them," the official continued. It "seems to be a mark of their isolation and broad distaste for their human rights record."