Iran knocks on UN's doors amid Trump's threat as protests grip the country

Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, wrote to the international body’s UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN Security Council (UNSC), urging them to condemn the “unlawful threats” towards Tehran from United States President Donald Trump.

According to Al Jazeera, the letter was sent to the international body on Friday and came hours after Trump said that the United States was “locked and loaded and ready to go” if any more protesters were killed in the ongoing demonstrations in Iran over the cost of living.

In the letter, Iravani called on UN chief Antonio Guterres and members of the UNSC to “unequivocally and firmly condemn” Trump’s “reckless and provocative statements”, describing them as a “serious violation” of the UN Charter and international law.

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“Any attempt to incite, encourage or legitimise internal unrest as a pretext for external pressure or military intervention is a gross violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iravani said in the letter, which was published in full by the IRNA state news agency.

Iran calls Trump’s threat illegal

The letter maintained that the Iranian government “reiterates its inherent right to defend its sovereignty” and that it will “exercise its rights decisively and proportionately”. “The United States of America bears full responsibility for any consequences arising from these illegal threats and any subsequent escalation of tensions,” Iravani added.

Earlier, IRNA reported that protests continued across Iran on Friday with people staging demonstrations in Qom, Marvdasht, Yasuj, Mashhad, and Hamedan as well as in the Tehran neighbourhoods of Tehranpars and Khak Sefid. Intense protests have taken over the country after shopkeepers in Iran’s capital, Tehran, went on strike on Sunday over high prices and economic stagnation.

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As of now, at least seven people have been killed, and 44 arrests have been made by the authorities. On Friday, the deputy governor of Qom province said that another person had died after a grenade exploded in his hand, in what the governor said was an attempt to incite unrest.

In his post on TruthSocial, Trump said that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue”. Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, shot back that US interference “is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests”.

Iran has been witnessing a historic economic crisis, including a collapsing currency and high inflation rates, following years of severe drought in Tehran, a city with a population of some 10 million people, compounding multiple ongoing crises. Iranian leaders have struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone in response, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying the government is at “fault” for the situation and promising to find solutions.