Said Rajaie-Khorassani was Iran's representative to the United Nations after a little event called the Iranian Revolution.

Just in case you haven't seen the movie Argo, here's a simplified summary: up until 1979, Iran was ruled by monarchs, the shahs, who were supported by the United States. Revolutionaries overthrew and replaced this government with an Islamic republic. This is sometimes referred to as the Islamic Revolution.

Why is that important? In 1981, Rajaie-Khorassani spoke out against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by basically arguing that it didn't work for Muslims. He called the declaration "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition." In statements in the General Assembly, he emphasized that Iran would always follow Islamic law, called Shariah, over the declaration if the two ever came into conflict.

In 1990, Iran and several other Muslim countries adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which declared Shariah the sole basis for determining human rights in Muslim countries (source). This declaration draws on many of the same human rights mentioned in the UDHR, but it makes it clear that Shariah is the ultimate determinant of any limitations of those rights. It's been criticized, therefore, for not allowing freedom of religion and expression.

Are international human rights compatible with traditions in Muslim countries? Good question. Regardless of where you stand on Iran's human rights record, Rajaie-Khorassani's overall point is something you can't ignore. One of the most common critiques of the UDHR, and the United Nations overall, is that it's biased toward Western values.

To be fair, there weren't any Muslims on the core drafting committee. The one rep from a Middle Eastern country, Charles Malik of Lebanon, was a Christian who'd come into conflict with Islamic political groups throughout his career (source). Can something really be considered "universal" if it mostly was created by people from one part of the world?

That's Rajaie-Khorassani's million-dollar question.