Since Iran’s crackdown against anti-government protests following the 2009 presidential election, the human rights crisis in the country has only deepened. Human Rights Watch is particularly concerned about the broad-based targeting of civil society activists, including lawyers, students, women’s rights activists, and journalists, and a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty. Yet the government’s record of cooperation with international institutions, particularly with UN mechanisms, remains extremely poor. Most strikingly, Iran continues to refuse access to UN special procedures despite their longstanding and repeated requests for invitations to visit. No special rapporteurs have visited the country since 2005. The government has also demonstrated its lack of commitment to cooperation through its continued failure to implement UN expert bodies’ recommendations. In July 2011 the Iranian government announced its unwillingness to cooperate with or allow access to the newly-appointed Special Rapporteur on Iran. The position was created by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2011 in response to the worsening rights situation in Iran.