United States warns Iran of military action at UN Security Council

Saturday 17 January 2026 - 13:50

By: Dakir Madiha

United States warns Iran of military action at UN Security Council

The United States called an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Thursday to address Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, with U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz cautioning that President Donald Trump has made clear all options remain on the table to halt the massacre. The meeting exposed sharp divisions among Council members over potential military intervention in Iran, where protests that erupted late December have claimed over 3,000 lives.

Waltz told the Council that Trump is a man of action, not endless talk as often seen at the United Nations. He stressed that Iranian regime leaders should understand the gravity of the warning better than anyone. Iran's deputy permanent representative, Gholamhossein Darzi, dismissed U.S. accusations, instead charging Washington with directly fueling the unrest toward violence. Darzi affirmed Iran seeks neither escalation nor confrontation but vowed a decisive, proportionate response to any aggression, invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Russia and China spearheaded opposition to U.S. threats of force. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the U.S. of summoning the session to justify blatant aggression and interference in a sovereign state's affairs. He labeled recent American rhetoric extremely dangerous and irresponsible, pointing to open U.S. calls for seizing Iran's state institutions.

China's chargé d'affaires Sun Lei warned that military adventurism would plunge the region into an unpredictable abyss. He urged the U.S. to honor the UN Charter's principles and abandon its fixation on force. Pakistan's Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad cautioned that threats or use of force would only worsen the crisis and undermine regional and global peace. Colombia's Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres noted that unilateral force threats carry grave risks in an already volatile region.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Saturday that 3,090 people have died in the protests, including 2,885 demonstrators; the deadliest such response since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Reports indicate Trump ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group toward the Persian Gulf from the South China Sea, a journey taking about a week. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump learned Iran suspended 800 planned executions, though the administration continues close monitoring as protests subside.