UN Rights Council Urged To Intervene Urgently On Iranian Issues.

New York, USA; January 2026: Several countries including Britain, Germany, Iceland, Moldova and North Macedonia  vide a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council President requested that the UN’s top rights body should immediately intervene alongside hold a special session to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The joint petition highlighted credible reports of alarming violence, crackdowns on protesters and violations of international human rights law across the country. The request, which requires the backing of at least a third of the council’s 47 members to go through, was made as Iran reeled from some of the biggest anti-government protests in its history, and a crackdown that monitors said had left thousands dead.

The demonstrations appeared to have subsided on 16th January in the face of the harsh repression and a week-long internet blackout. The UN Security Council in New York met on 15th January 2026 to discuss the situation in Iran. There had already been broad support among rights council members for the special session request, as per official source. Countries have been given until Monday (19th January) to back the requested session, for which no date has yet been set.

A senior UN official warned on Thursday that threats of military action against Iran, like those made by US President Donald Trump, increased “volatility” in the protest-torn country.

Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished in the face of repression and a week-long internet blackout.

Until Wednesday (14th January) the United States was threatening military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests, and Washington’s envoy to the UN said Thursday all options were still “on the table”.

“We note with alarm various public statements suggesting possible military strikes on Iran. This external dimension adds volatility to an already combustible situation”, UN Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told the UN Security Council. “All efforts must be undertaken to prevent any further deterioration”.

Iran’s representative at the meeting Gholamhossein Darzi accused Washington of “exploitation of peaceful protests for geopolitical purposes”. Trump’s statements were “aimed at reigniting unrest”, he said.

Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, invited to address the Council by Washington, said “all Iranians are united” against the clerical system in Iran. “Millions of Iranians flooded into the streets demanding that their money stop being stolen and sending to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Houthi fighters”, she said referring to Tehran-backed armed groups.

In October a US judge jailed two men for 25 years each Wednesday for a plot to murder Alinejad allegedly hatched by Tehran. Iranians “welcomed when President Trump offered to rescue unarmed people being shot in their heart, in their chest by the security forces inside Iran”, said Alinejad who was become a prominent face of criticism of the Iranian government in the United States.

US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the United States “stands by the brave people of Iran period”. “The level of repression that the Iranian regime has unleashed on its own citizens, its own people, has repercussions for international peace and security”, he added.

Earlier on the last day of 2025, President Trump, while speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, had threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear program or ballistic missile arsenal following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year.

A top political adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on Monday said any aggression against his country would be met with an “immediate harsh response. Iran’s #Missile_Capability and defense are not containable or permission-based. Any aggression will face an immediate #Harsh_Response beyond its planners’ imagination”, Ali Shamkhani wrote on X.

Team Maverick.