UN Security Council to meet on Iran today

KABUL (Pajhwok): The UN Security Council (UNSC) will meet on Thursday to discuss the situation in Iran, according to a spokeswoman for Somalia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Somalia holds the rotating presidency of the council for January, Xinhua reports.

“I can now confirm that the Security Council presidency intends to schedule a briefing on the situation in Iran on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), as requested by the United States,” said Khadija Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Somali mission, on Wednesday night.

Violent protests have erupted in several Iranian cities amid worsening economic conditions and a sharp decline in the value of the Iranian rial.

Reports on the death toll vary widely. Some sources indicate that approximately 48 security personnel and 483 protesters were killed, while others estimate that fatalities have exceeded 2,000.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump warned Iranian authorities that if protesters were violently suppressed, the United States would intervene in support of them and take “strong action” against Iran.

Trump later stated that “credible sources” had informed him the killings had ceased and that executions would also be halted. He cautioned, however, that any resumption of “killings or executions” would prompt a US response.

Speaking to Fox News, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi attributed the high number of casualties to actions by what he described as “terrorists armed by Israel.”

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