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US backs 'brave people of Iran', tells UN all options on table
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz dismissed allegations by Iran that the protests are 'a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action'
- PUBLISHED: Fri 16 Jan 2026, 10:56 AM
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- Reuters
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The US stands by the “brave people of Iran,” and President Donald Trump "has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter," US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the UN Security Council on Thursday (January 15).
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the unrest against clerical rule. But on Thursday, Trump adopted a wait-and-see posture, saying he had been told that the killings were easing and that he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions.
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"President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter," Waltz told the Security Council meeting, which Washington had requested.
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He dismissed allegations by Iran that the protests are "a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action."
"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," Waltz said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges “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,” senior UN official Martha Pobee told the council.
