The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet at 3 PM in New York on Thursday to discuss the situation in Iran, where hundreds of people reportedly have been killed in recent anti-government protests.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee is expected to brief ambassadors along with two civil society voices.
The nationwide demonstrations in Iran began in late December, sparked by record inflation, food prices and the sudden collapse of the national currency.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres was shocked by reports of violence and excessive use of force by the authorities, his Spokesperson noted in a statement issued on Sunday that called for exercising maximum restraint.
Right to protest
"All Iranians must be able to express their grievances peacefully and without fear. The rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as enshrined in international law, must be fully respected and protected," it said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called for investigations into all killings, violence against protestors, and other violations, while those responsible must be held to account.
"It is also extremely worrying to see public statements by some judicial officials indicating the possibility of the death penalty being used against protesters through expedited judicial proceedings" he said .
New US sanctions
The Security Council meeting was called by the United States, which announced on Thursday that it is "taking action against the architects of the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators," according to a press release from the Department of the Treasury.
Washington is imposing sanctions on five senior Iranian officials, including the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security (SCNS), Ali Larjani.
