Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani claimed this week that an alleged reference to “shithole countries” by President Donald Trump, referring to Haiti and some African nations, would usher in “an epoch of modern savagery.”
“I was deeply sorrowed to hear that America’s president the other day used humiliating language to speak about certain countries,” Larijani said on Monday, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV. “I think this era is leading us to an epoch of modern savagery, in which political language has lost its normalcy and nations are addressed with vile and degrading rhetoric instead of respect.”
Larijani reportedly made the comments at the 13th Session of the Parliamentary Union of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC) in Tehran.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that President Trump reportedly questioned whether the United States should accept immigrants from these “shithole countries” in comments to members of Congress. The Post did not divulge a recording or proof of the remarks.
President Trump has denied using that language:
Larijani reportedly said Islamic countries had to censure Trump’s remarks “because no president should humiliate a nation, African or otherwise.”
The Treasury Department on Friday announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 14 individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran.
Iran has a little-known history of African slavery. The Islamic Republic has also been listed by the State Department as being among dozens of countries with poor human trafficking records. According to one such report, “Child prostitution has risen 635 percent in the country, and dozens of Iranian girls are brought to Arab countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh to be sold as sex slaves every day. Most of these girls are raped within 24 hours of their departure, according to government officials.”
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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