Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 6
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
Iran’s envoy to the UN told a Security Council meeting on Friday that the move by the US to bring the domestic issues of his county to the council was an abuse of power.
“The move by the United States to bring to this Council protests in Iran by some of our citizens for their legitimate grievances — some exacerbated by none other than the US itself in its dereliction of its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is an abuse of its power as a Permanent Member, and an abuse of the Council itself,” Gholamali Khoshroo said.
Speaking about the recent protests in Iran he added that his government has hard evidence that recent protests in Iran were clearly directed from abroad.
In the meantime, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described the US move as “blunder”.
The Friday meeting centered on Iran after the US requested an emergency session amid protests in the country.
"Human rights are not the gift of governments, they are the inalienable rights of the people themselves … The Iranian regime is now on notice, the world will be watching what you do," US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said.
Over the past week, Iran saw turmoil and political unrests in several cities across the country which eventually took the lives of at least 21, including the law enforcement forces.
The unrests began after some groups joined demonstrations to protest against high prices, but the economic protests soon turned into anti-government demonstrations.
The government officials have urged people to refrain from participating in the illegal protests.