The Iran Rights Index: A Project of Impact Iran

Iran has received hundreds of recommendations from UN human rights mechanisms over the past three decades. Though not legally binding themselves, such recommendations carry obligation, insofar as they reflect Iran’s compliance (or lack thereof) with international human rights standards to which the Government is legally bound. To date, there has been no evidenced-based mechanism for systematically following up on Iran’s progress in implementing these recommendations.

Whether it’s the adoption of a new law or the moratorium on a harmful practice, the ability to regularly monitor and evaluate the real-world impact of steps taken by the Government to address human rights concerns is key to ensuring accountability. But most UN accountability mechanisms can only review the country’s human rights record intermittently, sometimes not following up for five or more years at a time. Iran can delay its review by some mechanisms indefinitely by simply choosing not to engage.

The IRIx aims to close this follow-up gap by providing consistent, thorough and up-to-date legal analysis of Iran’s compliance with the full scope of recommendations it has received from UN rights mechanisms. IRIx legal assessments were undertaken using an analytical methodology based on human rights indicators, which are freely available for download.

Visit the Iran Rights Index