A UN Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss recent protests in Iran turned into criticism of the US for requesting to meet on what some member states said was an internal issue for Tehran.
The protests do not threaten international peace and security, French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre said, in what might be an implicit criticism of the US.
“We must be wary of any attempts to exploit this crisis for personal ends, which would have the diametrically opposed outcome to that which is wished,” Delattre said. “However worrying the events of the last few days in Iran may be, they do not constitute per se a threat to international peace and security.”
Photo: AP
Demonstrations erupted in Iran more than a week ago after the government announced plans to raise fuel prices and cut monthly cash handouts to lower-income Iranians.
The unrest spread to more than 80 cities and towns, and has resulted in 22 deaths and more than 1,000 arrests, according to Iranian officials.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that Iran is “on notice” after listing what she referred to as slogans chanted by Iranian protesters.
“The Iranian regime’s contempt for the rights of its people has been widely documented for many years,” said Haley, adding that the US stood “unapologetically with those in Iran who seek freedom for themselves, prosperity for their families, and dignity for their nation. We will not be quiet. No dishonest attempt to call the protesters ‘puppets of foreign powers’ will change that.”
“The Iranian people are rising up in more than 79 locations throughout the country,” Haley told the council. “It is a powerful exhibition of brave people who have become so fed up with their oppressive government that they are willing to risk their lives in protest.”
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia shot back that if the US view holds, the council should have also discussed the 2014 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police shooting of a black teenager or the US crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Gholamali Khoshroo told the council that his government has “hard evidence” that recent protests in Iran were “very clearly directed from abroad.”
Khoshroo also said the US had abused its power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council by calling for a meeting to discuss the protests.
“It is unfortunate that despite the resistance on the part of some of its members, this council has allowed itself to be abused by the current US administration in holding a meeting on an issue that falls outside the scope of its mandate,” he said.
Nebenzia also said that the US was abusing the UN Security Council’s platform and the meeting was an attempt to use the Iranian situation to undermine the Iran nuclear deal, which the US administration opposes.
Discussing the domestic situation of Iran at the council “does not help resolve the domestic issue of Iran,” Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Wu Haitao (吳海濤) said.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s repeated tweets backing protesters during Iran’s unrest was rebuffed by marchers on Friday.
“Mr Trump passed laws against Iranians, such as the immigration ban, and he called Iranians ‘savages’... and suddenly he is sympathizing and supporting Iranians and it is ridiculous,” said Khalili, a government worker in Tehran.
Additional reporting by AFP
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