The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Thursday at the request of the United States to discuss Iran’s deadly crackdown on protests, although President Donald Trump did not clarify what action he would take against the Islamic republic.
Tehran appeared to make a cordial statement in the lead-up to the meeting in an attempt to calm the situation after threatening to take action to prevent further killings of protesters, including executing anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
The US-based Human Rights Activist news agency reported that at least 2,615 people have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on protests. The death toll exceeds any period of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
The sound of gunfire faded in the capital Tehran on Thursday. The country closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a major US military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The US Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporarily pause” travel to several military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Here’s the latest:
Russia accuses US of calling UN meeting to justify ‘gross aggression and interference’ in Iran
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that Moscow stands in solidarity with Iran and supports its view that “hostile external forces are attempting to take advantage of the current situation to overthrow the government they find objectionable and destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran as a sovereign and independent state.”
Russia, he said, called on the US to stop proving itself to be a global judge and end its escalating actions. Moscow also called on the 193 UN member states to “prevent new large-scale escalation”.
Nebenzia said the US action “risks plunging the region into even more bloody chaos – chaos that could easily spread beyond its borders.”
He said what happened on Iranian streets in recent days went far beyond peaceful protests, pointing to the use of firearms, killings of civilians and law enforcement officers, and arson attacks on medical facilities and public institutions.
US envoy told Iran, Trump is a ‘man of action’
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by the United States that “the people of Iran are demanding their freedom as never before in the brutal history of the Islamic Republic.”
He said the US message is clear: “President Donald J. Trump and the United States stand with the brave people of Iran.”
“President Trump is a man of action, not a man of endless talk, as we see at the United Nations,” Waltz said. “They have made clear, all options to stop the slaughter are on the table, and no one should know this better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.”
Waltz rejected Iranian accusations that the protests are “a foreign conspiracy” and a precursor to military action, saying: “Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever, and so this lie is being put forward because of the strength of the Iranian people in the streets.”
“They are scared,” he said. “They are scared of their own people.”
Iranian dissidents warn of ‘brutal massacre’ in Iran
Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the Islamic Republic was behaving like the Islamic State terrorist group, and “should be treated like that group”.
He said: “That’s how you save innocent lives.”
He warned that the “brutal massacre” in Iran would get worse if the world did not take “serious action”.
Alinejad said all Iranians are united in demanding freedom and that they want action in the face of Iranian military weapons, not “hollow words and empty condemnation.”
UN urges talks, warns against possible military attacks on Iran
The United Nations warned at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday that potential military attacks on Iran would further “destabilize an already volatile situation.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “urges maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or inflame broader regional tensions,” Assistant Secretary-General Martha Poe told the meeting.
Guterres urges maximum restraint and is convinced that all issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, should be addressed through diplomacy and dialogue, he said.
The UN chief reaffirms the principles of the UN Charter that disputes should be settled peacefully and the threat or use of force is prohibited, Pobie said.
Iranian dissidents accuse UN of failing to respond adequately
Massih Alinejad, one of the most vocal Iranian dissidents in the US, accused the United Nations and the Security Council of failing to “respond as this moment calls for” at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.
In October, two alleged Russian mobsters were sentenced to 25 years each on behalf of the Iranian government for hiring a hitman to kill Alinejad in her home in Brooklyn.
Sitting across the table from the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Alinejad, who had come following an invitation from the US, said that “members of this body have forgotten the privilege and responsibility of sitting in this room.”
In a surprising moment, even for Security Council standards, Alinejad directly addressed the Islamic Republic’s representative sitting on the council.
“You have tried to kill me three times. I have seen my would-be murderer with my own eyes in my house in Brooklyn, in front of my garden,” she said, while the Iranian officer looked straight ahead, without acknowledging him.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday
They spoke by phone to discuss recent deadly protests and Iran’s request to the world body to do more to condemn foreign influence in the Islamic republic, according to a readout of the call posted on Iranian state TV.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi urged the top UN official to live up to the “sincere expectation” that the UN has a role in condemning Iran’s government and its people for what officials called “illegal US interference against Iran”.
White House says 800 executions scheduled in Iran stopped
White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said US President Donald Trump and his team have told Iranian officials that there will be “serious consequences” if the killings against protesters in Iran continue.
He said, “The President understood today that 800 death sentences that were scheduled and were scheduled to take place yesterday have been stopped.”
But Trump is monitoring the situation closely, he said.
“All options are on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.
Iran-backed rebel group blames ‘US-Israeli plan’
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” plan.
“Criminal gangs in Iran have killed Iranian civilians, security forces and burned down mosques,” he said, without providing evidence. “What is being done by criminal gangs in Iran is appalling, which has an American imprint because it involves slaughter and some burning people alive.”
He also said that the US has imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis in the country, the ultimate goal of which is to control Iran.
Yet he said the US “has failed Iran” and that Iranians “will not bow to the US.”
EU is considering imposing tough sanctions against Iran
The president of the European Union’s executive branch says the 27-member bloc is considering strengthening sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a meeting of EU commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus on Thursday that existing sanctions against Iran are “undermining the regime.”
Von der Leyen said the EU is considering imposing sanctions on individual Iranians – other than those belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard – who are “responsible for atrocities.”
He said the Iranian people who are “bravely fighting for change” have the EU’s “full political support”.
1 Canadian among those killed in Iran
Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of Iranian authorities.”
“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people – demanding that their voices be heard against the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations – have emboldened the regime’s callous disregard for human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.
“This violence must end. Canada condemns the Iranian regime’s violence and calls for it to end immediately,” he said.
Anand said that the Consulate officials are in touch with the victim’s family in Canada. He did not give details.
The International Red Cross says one staff member died during Iran protests
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were injured during deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.
Iranian Red Crescent Society worker Amir Ali Latifi was working in the country’s Gilan province on January 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.
The statement further said, “IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society.”
Trump hails ‘good news’ on arrested Iranian shopkeeper
US President Donald Trump has described as “good news” reports that the death sentence of an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests has been lifted.
Relatives of 26-year-old Irfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.
Trump posted on his Truth Social site on Thursday: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protestor will no longer be put to death’ after President Trump’s warning. More like this.” This is good news. Hopefully, that continues!”
Iranian state media denied that Soltani had been sentenced to death. Iranian judicial officials said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside the capital. State media said that, along with other protesters, he has been charged with “propaganda activities against the regime”.
Trump escalated tensions this week by promising Iranian protesters “help is on the way” and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic republic.
On Wednesday, Trump signaled a possible de-escalation of tensions, saying he had been told “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
