(Note: Complete coverage of today's Security Council meeting will be available later today.)
Amid reports of a potential United States military intervention to halt the killings of protesters in Iran, the Security Council today heard harrowing testimony from Iranian journalists who said they had been targeted for assassination and tortured by their own Government, as Washington, D.C., made clear to Tehran that violence against demonstrators will not be tolerated and that "all options are on the table to stop the slaughter".
Demonstrations in Iran began in late December 2025 amid economic pressures, including inflation, rising food prices and currency depreciation. They were followed by a broad security response, with reports indicating casualties among protesters.
The meeting, requested by the United States, underscored the urgency of the crisis. Its representative said the violence and repression the Iranian regime has unleashed against its own people have repercussions for international peace and security and therefore require the Council's attention.
"President Donald J. Trump and the United States of America stands by the brave people of Iran," he said. Rejecting the regime's claim that the protests are a foreign plot and a pretext for military action, he said the Iranian authorities advance "this lie" because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. "They are afraid of their own people," he observed. While Iran claims to be ready for dialogue, he said, its actions tell a different story. "Enough is enough […] President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations," he stressed, adding that the President has made it clear that "all options are on the table to stop the slaughter, and no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime".
Masih Alinejad, journalist and political dissident, said that millions of Iranians need "real and concrete action" against a regime that does not understand the language of diplomacy. She faulted the United Nations for not responding "with the urgency this moment demands" and directly challenged the Secretary-General: "Why are you afraid of the Islamic Republic?" She described a total communications blackout - "no Internet, no cell phones and no landlines". The "total darkness" is meant to destroy the evidence of crimes committed against the Iranian people.
She said demonstrators demanded that public funds "stop being stolen and sent to Hamas, Hizbullah and the Houthis", while the authorities responded with force, including the use of AK-47s, against innocent people. She further warned that Iran's repression extends abroad, calling it "transnational repression" and claiming dissidents are targeted "in Europe, in Canada, in Australia, everywhere" with help from the Government of China, "Venezuelan dictators" and "Russian mobsters". Addressing Iran's representative, she said: "You have tried to kill me three times," adding: "I live with survivor's guilt because many Iranians do not have the same protection."
Ahmad Batebi, human rights activist and journalist, recounted how he was arrested as a student for attending demonstrations and condemned by Iran's authorities. The message was clear: "When you fight with our regime, it means you fight with God [… and] your punishment is death," he said. He said he was sentenced to death, held in solitary confinement for two years and subjected to both mental and physical torture, including mock executions, adding: "I can show you my body right now to see the sign of this."
Iran's leadership is "a demonic cult" whose mission is exporting the ideology to other countries. "You tried to kill me, but you couldn't […] you cannot kill all the people," he said to Iran's delegate. Citing what he said were reports from inside Iran, he claimed that, while media accounts cite 12,000 people died, "the actual number is much, much more", alleging bodies are buried without any identification and families are denied access. He also alleged proxy forces were involved in shootings, saying some "cannot even talk Farsi". He appealed directly to President Trump for help: "You encouraged them, and they are in the street […] don't leave them alone."
Situation in Iran Is Fluid, Deeply Concerning
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, spoke on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General. She underscored that all Iranians must be able to express grievances peacefully and without fear, with full respect for freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly under international law, and called for the restoration of access to information, including by lifting the communications blackout.
"The situation in Iran is fluid and deeply concerning," she said, noting that protests continue, though reportedly at a smaller scale than last week. Warning against public statements suggesting possible military strikes, she said: "This external dimension adds volatility to an already combustible situation," stressing that every effort must be made to prevent further deterioration.
