UN rights body considers new scrutiny of Iran amid protests

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body is holding a special session on Iran amid weeks of defiant protests and a police crackdown. The Human Rights Council was set to debate and vote on a proposal to set up a team of independent investigators to monitor human rights in Iran as protests continue over the death in mid-September of a 22-year-old woman who died while being held by the morality police for violating a strictly enforced Islamic dress code. The proposal was presented by Germany and Iceland. It has the support of dozens of voting and observer states in the Geneva-based body, which counts 47 member countries.