U.S. Call For Support For Iranian Protesters Gets Mixed Response At UN
By RFE/RL
The U.S. call for support for Iranian antigovernment protesters drew a mixed reaction at the United Nations, with even some U.S. allies questioning whether an international response was justified.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley opened an emergency session of the UN Security Council on January 5 with an impassioned plea for “brave” Iranian demonstrators, saying they are "risking their lives" to assert their rights to criticize the government and pursue a better life.
"The Iranian people are rising up in over 79 locations throughout the country," Haley said. "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."
"The Iranian regime is finally on notice: The world will be watching what you do," she said.
But Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said the United States was "abusing the platform of the Security Council" with a "bogus" pretext to interfere in the domestic affairs of a member nation.
He also accused the White House of using the events in Iran as a false pretense for scrapping a deal that requires Iran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Trump administration certified Iran's compliance twice last year, but in October the president declined to certify for the first time, pointing to Iran's ballistic-missile development and other matters which he said were in violation of the "spirit" of the deal.
"The true underlying reason for convening today's session lies not in attempts to protect the human rights and interests of Iranian people but in a veiled attempt to use the current moment to continue the line towards derailing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which aims to settle the situation around Iran's nuclear program," Nebenzya said.
Iranian UN Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo also accused the United States of "bullying" and "abusing" its power to summon a meeting of the Security Council on a matter he said was "outside the scope of its mandate.”
Envoys from China, Sweden, Bolivia, and several other countries also expressed reservations about whether the Security Council was the right forum for discussing the protests.
But in perhaps the biggest blow to U.S. hopes of galvanizing support for the protesters, some U.S. allies in Europe also questioned the move to raise the matter before the Security Council. Only British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft openly defended the move.
“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," said France's UN ambassador, Francois Delattre.
"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," he said.
The rebuff from close U.S. allies prompted a tweet from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claiming that Iran had successfully fended off the U.S. attempt to organize any UN intervention in Iran.
"The UNSC rebuffed the U.S.'s naked attempt to hijack its mandate -- Another [foreign policy] blunder for the Trump administration," Zarif tweeted.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged being disappointed about the response to the Iranian protests, especially from Western allies.
"We're a bit disappointed that the European Union has not taken a more definitive stance in supporting those voices in the country that are calling for reform," he said in an interview on January 5 with the Associated Press.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Iran protests for Friday, January 5, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Just in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
The United Nations Security Council has begun an emergency session called by the United States to the discuss the deadly antigovernment protests in Iran.
The session began shortly after the council had gone into a closed-door consultation requested by Russia, which opposed the U.S. call for the emergency meeting.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley opened the session with an impassioned plea for the Iranian people, saying they are "rising up" for something their government "cannot deny them" -- "their human rights."
"The Iranian regime is now on notice: The world is watching," she said.
Speaking earlier on January 5, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov chided the United States for calling the meeting, saying it was “shamelessly and blatantly” interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.
The diplomatic maneuvering comes following a week of antigovernment street protests in Iran that have led to the deaths of at least 22 people and an estimated 1,000 arrests. At the same time, pro-government demonstrators have rallied in several Iranian cities amid government claims that the unrest has been brought to an end.