A/HRC/22/56 light of such reports, the Special Rapporteur remains concerned about the efficacy of international safeguards intended to reduce the adverse impact of general sanctions on the Iranian population. He will therefore continue to seek the cooperation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and that of sanction-imposing countries to report on the effectiveness of humanitarian safeguards. Some reports point to sanctions aimed at the country’s financial sector, which could pose an impediment to conducting transactions for exempted items, despite humanitarian waivers. 77 The Special Rapporteur is also concerned at the severe rise in inflation, increased commodity prices and subsidy cuts, which could also hinder access to essential goods.78 According to certain sources, domestic authorities could take steps to mitigate some of the humanitarian effects of sanctions and better meet obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 75. The Special Rapporteur stresses that further investigation into the above issues is necessary, and therefore requests the assistance and cooperation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in facilitating an unfettered visit to the country in order to allow an adequate assessment of the humanitarian consequences of sanctions and their impact on the economic and social rights of Iranians. He also appeals to relevant United Nations agencies and sanctions-imposing Governments to aid in the evaluation of the impact of sanctions on the general population. III. Conclusions and recommendations 76. After reflecting on the past two years of his mandate and the findings in the present report, the Special Rapporteur concludes that there the seriousness of human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran has increased. Frequent and disconcerting reports of punitive State action against various members of civil society, actions that undermine the full enjoyment of human rights by women, religious and ethnic minorities, and retributive State action against individuals suspected of communicating with the mandate holder raise serious concern about the Government’s resolve to promote respect for human rights in the country. 77. The Special Rapporteur continues to be alarmed at the rate of executions in the country, especially for crimes that do not meet serious crimes standards, and especially in the face of allegations of widespread and ongoing torture for the purposes of soliciting confessions from the accused. The Government’s ability to address meaningfully the matters raised by a number of human rights instruments and the Human Rights Council is constrained by a lack of meaningful cooperation, its intransigent position on the existence of human rights violations in the country, and de 77 78 Reuters, 20 March 2012 (available from www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-iran-usa-sanctionsidusbre82j05n20120320). “SWIFT instructed to disconnect sanctioned Iranian banks following EU Council decision”, SWIFT, 15 March 2012. Available from www.swift.com/news/press_releases/SWIFT_disconnect_Iranian_banks. www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2012/11/121111_l21_medicine_sanction_health.shtml. See also Joby Warrick and James Ball, “Food prices, inflation rise sharply in Iran”, Washington Post, 4 October 2012 (available from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-04/world/35498613_1_cliff-kupchaniranian-behavior-price-hikes); “A red line and a reeling rial”, Economist, 6 October 2012 (available from www.economist.com/node/21564229); “IMF forecasts for Iran show limited sanction hit”, Reuters, 9 October 2012 (available from www.reuters.com/article/ 2012/10/09/us-iran-economy-imf-idUSBRE8980GX20121009); “Iran's Ahmadinejad sacks only female minister”, Aljazeera, 28 December 2012 (available from www.aljazeera.com/ news/asia/2012/12/20121227171414934991.html); and www.bbc.co.uk/ persian/iran/2012/11/121114_l10_shahriari_health_crisis.shtml. 23