The United States has brought to the UN Security Council the diplomatic fight it maintains with Iran as a result of the ayatollahs that has shaken the country since the end of December and which, according to human rights organizations, has left more than 3,400 people dead. In an emergency session requested by Washington, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, has reiterated that President Donald Trump maintains “all options on the table” to stop what he has described as a real “massacre” of protesters.
“President Trump is a man of actions, not of endless speeches like those we hear at the United Nations, and he has made it clear that all options are on the table to stop the massacre. No one should be clearer about this than the leaders of the Iranian regime,” Waltz stated before all members of the Security Council. The diplomat has insisted that his country “supports the brave people of Iran” because it is a collective responsibility, since “the level of violence and repression that the Iranian regime has unleashed on its own citizens has consequences for the peace and security of the entire world.”
Washington has once again made it clear that Iran’s arguments that this crisis is due to internal issues are not even remotely believed. In fact, Waltz has accused the Iranian regime of diverting economic resources that should “cover the basic needs of its people” into financing armed groups and its nuclear and missile programs. Something that, according to the American diplomat, is directly linked to instability in the Middle East: “How many people have died, been injured, maimed or mistreated in Israel, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen or Iraq due to the Iranian regime’s support for terrorism as the main state sponsor?” he asked the Council.
“Decisive response”
Faced with Washington’s threats, Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Gholamhossein Darzi, has warned the fifteen members of the Security Council that his country will respond to any aggression, “whether direct or indirect”, with an action that will be “decisive, proportional and in accordance with international law”, which is protected by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, where it recognizes the right to self-defense. “”, stressed the diplomat.
Darzi has accused the United States of promoting violence and internal destabilization in Iran through its explicit threats of military action, which he believes “pose a threat to international peace and security.” The Iranian representative to the UN has rejected the accusations that have been leveled against the Iranian regime and has attributed all the deaths of protesters in Iran to the Islamic State. Some protests that “were peaceful initially”, but that have ended up “kidnapped” by armed groups.
The Iranian diplomat has raised the tone even further by accusing Washington of directly participating in “the derivation of the turmoil in Iran towards violence” and of laying the groundwork for a possible foreign military intervention “under an alleged humanitarian narrative.” In this sense, he has warned that any threat to use force against Iran, even under the pretext of protecting protesters or supporting the Iranian people, would constitute “a serious violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.” “It is not a threat. It is a confirmation of legal reality,” he stressed.
The tension in international geopolitics since Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office chair has been reflected in the room after the interventions of Russia, China and other European countries. Moscow has denounced that this latest session of the Council constitutes “another attempt by the United States to justify blatant aggression and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State.”
Beijing has also defended the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran, while in Europe, France has maintained that “the Iranian people must decide their own destiny,” although it has stressed the existence of a collective responsibility to denounce the violence and repression recorded during the demonstrations.
For its part, the UN Secretary General has called for containment and, on behalf of the Secretary General, António Guterres, the organization has called for “maximum restraint at this delicate moment” and has urged all parties to avoid any action that could cause more fatalities or a regional military escalation, in a context that is marked by crossed threats and increasing diplomatic tension.
