By Kimberly Hayek

The United States said on Thursday that all options remain on the table to stop Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests, as U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz gave a clear message during an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting held at Washington’s request.

“Colleagues, let me be clear: President [Donald] Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He 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,” Waltz said, reaffirming the U.S. president’s stance.

The meeting underscored international alarm over Iran’s crackdown on protests that began on Dec. 28, 2025, amid economic collapse and a failing currency.

Protests have taken place in more than 500 locations across 180 cities and towns over the past nineteen days, undermining theocratic rule despite authorities’ efforts to squash them via a nationwide internet and communication blackout. Trump has warned the regime against employing deadly force.

Activists claim a death toll of at least 2,637, including seven children. A U.S.-based human rights group conjectures there have been more than 500 killed and approximately 10,600 detained.

Two Iranian dissidents, Masih Alinejad and Ahmad Batebi, testified at the meeting’s opening, asked by the United States to share accounts of human rights abuses.

“You have tried to kill me three times,” Alinejad said, speaking to the Iranian representative directly. “I have seen my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden, in my home in Brooklyn.”

Batebi, describing his own experiences of torture, said, “If you do not believe me, I can show you my body right now.”

He called on Trump, “You encouraged people to go into the streets. That was a good thing. But don’t leave them alone.”

Waltz rejected Iran’s claims that the protests are the result of foreign interference.

“Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. They are afraid. They’re afraid of their own people.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a phone call ahead of the meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres—the first since the protests began—demanded the U.N. condemn “illegal U.S. interventions against Iran,” according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Guterres, through senior official Martha Pobee, called for “maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or ignite a wider regional escalation.”

The United States announced fresh sanctions on Iranian officials allegedly in charge of the crackdown.

Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, which the Treasury Department alleges to be among the first officials to call for the use of force against protesters, was one of the first to be sanctioned.

The Group of Seven industrialized nations and the European Union said they are weighing further measures to discourage Tehran.

Canada told its citizens in Iran to “leave now,” estimating about 3,500 Canadians are in the country amid the chaos.

Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi has called on Iranians to take to the streets via social media.

Trump has suggested the United States is ready to intervene.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” the president said.

The United States conducted airstrikes in June 2025 that inflicted “extremely severe damage” on three Iranian nuclear facilities, stalling Tehran’s nuclear program and prompting global security alerts, according to the Pentagon.

Iran has vowed to retaliate against any U.S. attack, heightening fears of broader conflict.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.