Amid reports of a potential United States military intervention to halt the killings of protesters in Iran, the Security Council today heard harrowing testimony from Iranian journalists who said they had been targeted for assassination and tortured by their own Government, as Washington, D.C., made clear to Tehran that “all options are on the table to stop the slaughter”.
Demonstrations in Iran began in late December 2025 amid economic pressures, including inflation, rising food prices and currency depreciation. They were followed by a broad security response, with reports indicating casualties among protesters.
The meeting, requested by the United States, underscored the urgency of the crisis. Its representative said the violence and repression the Iranian regime has unleashed against its own people have repercussions for international peace and security and therefore require the Council’s attention.
“President Donald J. Trump and the United States of America stands by the brave people of Iran,” he said. Rejecting the regime’s claim that the protests are a foreign plot and a pretext for military action, he said the Iranian authorities advance “this lie” because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. “They are afraid of their own people,” he observed. While Iran claims to be ready for dialogue, he said, its actions tell a different story. “Enough is enough […] President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations,” he stressed, adding that the President has made it clear that “all options are on the table to stop the slaughter, and no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime”.