Iranian and U.S. officials engaged in a heated exchange at a U.N. Security Council meeting amid deadly protests in Iran and threats of attack by the U.S. government.
The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss deadly protests in Iran as President Donald Trump threatens to intervene militarily in the country.
Members of the influential 15-nation U.N. body heard from Iran’s deputy envoy to the U.N., who warned at Thursday’s meeting that Iranians do not seek confrontation and would respond to U.S. aggression, and accused the U.S. of being “directly involved in inducing unrest in Iran.”
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U.S. representative Mike Walz used prepared remarks for the meeting to criticize the Iranian government’s response to the protests, noting that ongoing internet blackouts in Iran have made it difficult to ascertain the true scope of the crackdown by local authorities.
“The Iranian people are demanding freedom more than ever before in the Islamic Republic’s brutal history,” Walz said, adding that Iran’s claims that the protests are a “foreign plot that presages military action” are a sign that the government is “fearful for its own people.”
Walz did not mention Trump’s repeated threats to intervene militarily against Iran over the past week, before the president eased his escalating rhetoric over the past week.
Iran’s deputy UN special envoy, Gholamhossein Darji, told the council that his country “does not seek escalation or confrontation.”
“However, any act of aggression, direct or indirect, will be met with a firm, proportionate and lawful response under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter,” Darzi said.
“This is not a threat. It is a statement of legal reality. Responsibility for all consequences lies solely with those who initiate such illegal acts,” he said.
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Martha Povey briefed the Council, saying that since “popular protests” in Iran began nearly three weeks ago, they have “rapidly escalated into nationwide chaos, resulting in significant loss of life.”
“The demonstrations began on December 28, 2025, when a group of shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar gathered to protest against the sharp depreciation of the currency and soaring inflation amid widespread economic downturn and deteriorating living conditions,” Povey said.
He added that human rights monitors have reported “mass arrests” in Iran, with “an estimated number of over 18,000 detainees as of mid-January 2026,” but that “the United Nations cannot verify these numbers.”
She called on Iran to treat detainees humanely and “cease all executions related to incidents related to the protests.”
“All deaths should be investigated promptly, independently and transparently,” Povey added.
“Those responsible for any violations must be held accountable in accordance with international norms and standards.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied on Wednesday that his government was planning to execute anti-government protesters.
Asked in an interview with Fox News if there were any plans to execute protesters, Arraguchi said: “There are no plans to hang them.”
“Hanging is out of the question,” he said.
The Security Council also heard from two representatives of Iranian civil society, including Iranian-American journalist and government critic Masih Alinejad, who said “real and concrete action is needed now to bring justice to those who ordered the genocide in Iran.”
Mr. Alinejad told Mr. Darzi and the Iranian government: “You tried to kill me three times… My crime? Just echoing the voices of the innocent people you killed.”
Thursday’s meeting came as the United States imposed further sanctions on Iran’s leadership, including Iran’s Supreme Security Council (SNSC) secretary Ali Larijani and several other officials, accusing them of being the “architects” of Iran’s “brutal” response to the protests.
Iran has already been under harsh sanctions for years, compounding an economic crisis that has also fueled a recent wave of public protests.
