United States fails to get UNSC action on Iranian protests

"In the past several days, the US administration, led by the USA president, has stepped up its acts of intervention in a grotesque way in Iran's internal affairs under the pretext of providing support for sporadic protests" in the country, Khoshroo said in a Wednesday letter to the UN Security Council and to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The Iranian people know the truth. Russian Federation said Washington was overstepping into Iran's domestic affairs.

U.S. President Donald Trump is cheering on demonstrators in Iran for standing up to their government over the hard economic times.

The British envoy was addressing the United Nations Security Council session which had been held at the request of the United States to discuss recent unrests in some parts of Iran.

Briefing the Security Council, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, Assistant UN Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said the demonstrations taking place in Iran were a fundamental expression of human rights, and a powerful exhibition of fearless people who were so fed up with their oppressive regime that they were willing to risk their lives in protest.

"The Iranian regime is finally on notice: The world will be watching what you do", she continued.

Russia's Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said that if the Council followed the reasoning behind convening the the meeting over domestic protests in Iran, it should have met after the protests in the U.S. that followed the killing of an African-American teenager in Ferguson by a white police officer in 2014.

The meeting was a defeat for USA diplomatic interests as countries in the Security Council defended the principles of sovereignty and non-interventionism.

Observing that the Council's primary responsibility is maintaining worldwide peace and security, Wu Haito of China said that it should not be the venue for discussing the human rights situation of any country.

Hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami told his followers that anti-government protesters were enemies of Islam, and called for harsh retribution.

Asked if Labour then agreed with Iran's Republican Guard, who claim the protests are "being stirred up by foreign influence", he said: "I think we have to be very careful here". We will not be quiet.

"We must be wary of any attempt to exploit this crisis for personal ends", France's Permanent Representative Francois Delattre said, adding that the Council must commit to upholding the nuclear agreement.

He said his government has "hard evidence" recent protests in Iran were very clearly directed from overseas.

The Security Council "rebuffed the U.S.' naked attempt to hijack its mandate", Mr. Zarif wrote on Twitter.

'Iranian govt should respect their people's rights, including right to express themselves. "Another FP [foreign policy] blunder for the Trump administration". The days of pro-government rallies drew crowds in the tens of thousands.