Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. A number of the most crippling sanctions are imposed by the United States and the UN Security Council over Iran’s nuclear program. However, there are also a number of US sanctions against senior Iranian officials over human rights violations, and in August 2011, the United Nations also created a mandate for Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed to “monitor and investigate” human rights violations by Iran.

But Iran was given an opportunity to strike back at US officials after the US Senate Intelligence Committee published a report Dec. 9 revealing the CIA’s secret interrogations of suspected terrorists in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

An Iranian parliament member has called for a special rapporteur from the United Nations to investigate the Senate report. At the same time, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the West over Twitter of double standards and hypocrisy, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman condemned the CIA's actions.

Mohammad Saleh Jokar, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy committee, which typically holds hard-line positions, told Tasnim News Agency, “The Senate’s CIA report is the final bullet in American human rights.”