On January 4, Gholamali Khoshroo, the Iranian ambassador to the UN accused the US of interfering in the internal affairs of Iran and said in a letter to Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, that the US has “crossed every limit” by “inciting Iranians to engage in disruptive acts”.
“[The US] has stepped up its acts of intervention in a grotesque way in Iran’s internal affairs under the pretext of providing support for sporadic protests, which in several instances were hijacked by infiltrators,” Khoshroo said, according to the state-run Iranian media outlet Press TV.
On December 28, thousands of Iranians took at the streets to protest against the Iranian government for economical reasons. Only hours later, US President Donald Trump encouraged the Iranian protestor, and tweeted that the “world is watching” what’s going on in Iran.
On January 3, the US President even vowed to support the Iranian protestors against what the “corrupt government” of Iran.
Other top US officials including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also stressed their support to the Iranian protestors. US Envoy Nikki Haley even called for an “urgent” UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on January 8 to discuss the situation in Iran. However, no meeting has been yet scheduled.
The US intervention in the internal affairs of Iran raised the concerns in several countries including Russia. Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, warned the US from intervening in Iran’s internal affairs in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS on January 4.
“We warn the US against attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran … I am certain that our neighbor, our friendly state [Iran] will manage to overcome current difficulties and come from the current period as a strengthened country and reliable partner to solve various problems, “ Ryabkov said, according to TASS.
The official also accused the US of abusing the current protests in Iran to pressure Iran on matters related to the Iranian nuclear deal.