Iran is pulling out all the stops at the United Nations to short-circuit a Canadian-led censure of the Islamic republic’s human rights record - and insiders say the Iranians may have the upper hand.

After coming to within just two votes last year of winning UN backing for tossing out the annually renewed resolution, Iran has been lavishing key 'swing' states with economic goodies or offering them crucial political support on the world stage.

Pushing through the censure has become one of Canada’s most important diplomatic tasks at the UN - and Iranian success in a vote that could come as early as today would be seen as a serious setback in the promotion of human rights at the world body.

Diplomats say that pivotal this year are the votes of about 40 countries among the 192 member states of the UN General Assembly. Canada’s lobbying has included private appeals by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Minister of State Peter Kent.

As in years past, Iran will seek to negate the human rights focus by winning majority support for a 'no action' motion on the issue because it knows the idea of country-specific reviews is unpopular among many member states, some of which feel they may be next.

The swing states are an eclectic mix driven by myriad interests. They include places like the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, where the parliament is split over a government bid for closer relations with Iran amid Iranian offers of technical assistance.

Another example is Serbia, which is angry with the West for effectively forcing it to give up Kosovo, a historical heartland, but which diplomats say was thankful for Iranian support at the UN for its position.

Even places like Kenya and Ethiopia - which are big recipients of Canadian aid - have shown they’ll shift allegiances against a backdrop of Iranian investment offers and deals with Iranian companies.

With enough swing votes, Iran will be assured victory because it already has core support among many Islamic and developing countries. One is its neighbour Afghanistan, where Canadian investment of blood and treasure is among the biggest in Canadian history after the great wars.

In an illustration of just how complicated the reasons for supporting Iran can be, western diplomats explain that Afghan-istan must also account for the fact Iran’s proximity means it has the potential to disrupt life in Afghanistan’s provinces.

Iranian exiles say annual renewal of the resolution provides a powerful boost to dissidents inside Iran who seek democratic change in the face of political persecution, torture and murder.

'This is an important international blot on Iran’s record and it helps people inside Iran who are standing up to the regime know that the world has not forgotten them,' said Nasser Rashidi, executive director of the Washington-based International Coalition of Pro-Democracy Advocates.

Iran says the Canadian-led initiative is motivated by an 'isolated, bilateral judicial dossier' - an oblique reference to the 2003 death in Iranian custody of Montrealer Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist who Canada is convinced was raped, tortured and murdered.

Canada did begin tabling the resolution in the General Assembly that year but many other countries have signed on as co-sponsors. This year 42 have added their names to the initiative and are, to a greater or lesser extent, involved in the lobbying.

Canada also stepped up in 2003 because Iran had succeeded in evading censure in the UN’s Geneva-based Human Rights Commission, which by then had become heavily influenced by member states with poor human rights records.

If the current General Assembly initiative fails, the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the commission’s 2006 successor, the Human Rights Council, will eventually take up the issue of Iran’s human rights record. But that won’t be until 2010 - one year after the council has slotted Canada for review.