Irans Dilemma: Universalism Vs Cultural Relativism Dr. SUMANT KUMAR Year of Publish -2016 Month - July ISBN : - 978-1-365-29421-1         Download : - ****

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) occupies a key position both at the regional as well as international level. The country has attracted much attention for its opposition to the Western design in the area. The Western world, especially the US, has opposed and tried to change the regime in Iran ever since the Islamic Revolution. One of the major areas of attack by the Western powers has been the Human Rights issue. There are fundamental differences between the Human Rights that are universally accepted, as reflected in Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); (Human Rights, according to the UDHR, are those basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled including civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to be treated with respect and dignity, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.) and those which the IRI endorses as Human Rights. This makes the issue more complicated and requires a discussion on a whole range of issues including culture, the nature of the state, and the type of regime, etc. There is a debate in the academic circle regarding the universality of Human Rights. The proponents of the Islamic society are still putting a stiff resistance to the universal applicability of Human Rights and justify their practices on the ground that the Human Rights that the West advocates is an extension of the Western culture and is a weapon to make inroads into the cultural sphere of the traditional/non-Western societies.