Iran hits back after U.S. religion report

The U.S. State Department said in its annual report on religious freedom around the world that it found a further deterioration in what it called "the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom" in Iran.

"This report ... pursues America's foreign policy goals and is not worthy," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying by Iranian radio.

He cited rights abuses in the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba and in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, saying they had "left America with no reputation in the world".

"It's better for the White House officials to stop the useless game of publishing rotating reports and lists of human rights violators," he added.

Iran is a frequent target of criticism from the United States, which has long branded Tehran as a "state sponsor of terrorism" and accused it of persistent human rights abuses. Iran dismisses such charges.

The U.S. State Department cited reports of imprisonment, harassment, intimidation and discrimination based on religious beliefs in Iran, even among Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians -- the only legally recognised religious minorities.

/Reuters/