US Warns Iran That ‘All Options Are in The Table’ in UN Meeting

United Nations: After weeks of rising tensions, US and Iranian officials faced off at the UN Security Council on Thursday; here, the U.S. envoy renewed threats to the Islamic Republic despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to cool the temperature between the two foes.

Iranian dissidents have joined the United States in condemning the government’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests that activists say have killed at least 2,677 people.

“Colleagues, let me be clear: President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the council. “He made it clear that all options are on the table to stop the massacre. And no one knows this better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.”

Waltz’s remarks come as the possibility of U.S. retaliation for the deaths of protesters still looms over the region; However, Trump signaled a possible decrease in tension by saying that the killings are over. On Thursday, protests challenging Iran’s theocracy appeared increasingly subdued, but a state-ordered internet and communications blackout continued.

Senior officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have spent the past 48 hours expressing concerns to Trump that U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already unstable region, a diplomat told The Associated Press.

During the meeting, Hossein Darzi, Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN, condemned the United States for what he claimed was America’s “direct role in driving unrest into violence in Iran.”

“Under the empty pretext of concerns for the Iranian people and claims to support human rights, the United States is trying to portray itself as a friend of the Iranian people, while at the same time paving the way for political instability and military intervention with so-called ‘humanitarian’ rhetoric,” Darzi said.

The United States demanded an emergency meeting of the Security Council and invited two Iranian dissidents, Masih Alinejad and Ahmad Batebi, to describe their experiences as targets of the Islamic Republic.

In a striking moment, Alinejad addressed the Iranian representative directly.

“You tried to kill me three times. I saw my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden at my home in Brooklyn,” the Iranian official said as he looked directly ahead, not recognizing him.

In October, two alleged Russian gangsters were sentenced to 25 years in prison for hiring a hitman to kill Alinejad at his New York home on behalf of the Iranian government three years ago.

Batebi described the deep cuts that guards in Iran would give him before pouring salt on his wounds. “If you don’t believe me, I can show you my body right now,” he told the council.

Both opponents called on the world body and council to do more to hold Iran accountable for human rights abuses. Batebi begged Trump not to leave the Iranian people alone.

“You encouraged people to go out on the streets. That was a good thing. But don’t leave them alone,” he said.

Russia was the only member of the council to defend Iran’s actions and call on the United States to stop intervention.

Protests appear to have been suppressed as death toll rises The fact that videos of the demonstrations have stopped flowing out of Iran signals that the pace of demonstrations is slowing, possibly due to the heavy presence of security forces in major cities.

Eyewitnesses in Iran’s capital Tehran said in recent mornings there had been no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris on the streets. The gunfire, which had been intense for several nights, also decreased.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 2,677 people died in the crackdown on the demonstrations. The figure released Thursday marks an increase of 106 from the previous day, and the organization says that number will likely continue to rise. The death toll exceeds that of any other protests or unrest in Iran in decades and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The US-based agency, founded 20 years ago, has provided accurate information throughout years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists who have verified all reported deaths in Iran.

Because communications are severely limited in Iran, the AP could not independently verify the group’s death toll. The Iranian government did not disclose casualty figures.

New sanctions on senior Iranians In other developments, the United States on Thursday announced new sanctions against Iranian officials accused of suppressing protests that began late last month over the country’s faltering economy and collapse of its currency. The Group of seven industrialized democracies and the European Union also said they were working on new sanctions to increase pressure on Iran’s theocratic government.

Among those affected by US sanctions was the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, whom the Treasury Department accused of being one of the first officials to call for violence against protesters. The Group of Seven, of which the United States is a member, also warned that they could impose more sanctions if the pressure on Iran continues.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-nation bloc was considering strengthening sanctions “to ensure that this regime ends and change occurs”.