Russia, France Slam US Over Emergency UN Meeting on Iran

Meeting Adjourns With No Vote Taking Place

An emergency meeting at the UN Security Council on the subject of week-long protests in Iran saw a series of speeches, including the US reiterating its previous public statements backing demonstrators and threatening Iran, and other nations wondering why this was worth an emergency meeting.

Russian Ambassador Nebenzya and Nikki Haley

French Ambassador Francois Delattre insisted the Iran protests had nothing to do with international peace and security, warning against “attempts to exploit this crisis for personal ends,” which many see as a direct rebuke of the US.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya
was even more frank, saying the meeting amounted to the US abusing its position at the UN to “mess with Iran,” and noting the UN didn’t have any emergency meetings after the US crackdowns in Ferguson.

Iran insisted the matter was an internal affair, not something for the UN to weigh in on, and China agreed, with their ambassador calling it a purely “domestic issue.” There is no sign there was any interest beyond the US for taking any action at the meeting.

After the meeting adjourned, Russia agreed to closed-door talks on what they called the “American initiative,” but there is no indication hat anything has come of the matter since then.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.