In spite of having one of the world's worst records for human rights, Iran's president told the UN's secretary general that attention to women's rights are “unparalleled” in the Islamic Republic.

His remarks come in the wake of more than one year of women-led protests in the country, dubbed Woman, Life, Freedom, in which the nation has fought back against the mandatory headscarf and widespread oppression against women and minorities. He spoke just hours after a prisoner swap deal that saw $6 billion released by the United States and five regime-affiliated convicts in the US freed from prisons.

Ebrahim Raisi claimed that the presence of Iranian women and girls in various fields such as science, sports, social, and cultural activities shows the nation's attention to women's rights, in remarks made to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres ahead of the General Assembly.

"The Islamic Republic is ready to cooperate with the United Nations for the promotion of peace and security in the world and to prevent oppression against nations," he added.

His claims come as an earlier report by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has described the situation of women in Iran as “dire”.

With women having been at the forefront of anti-regime protests, burning headscarves and cutting hair in protest against the oppression of the Islamic Republic, the rights group said, "at least 3,953 women were arrested, of which 1,019 were identified by HRANA, [and] 160 of them were female university students.”

According to HRANA, since September's unrest, at least 2,003 women were reprimanded in different ways, including being summoned to police authorities, due to the improper wearing of the hijab.