Overview
- Iran’s ambassador Saeid Iravani told U.S. envoy Mike Waltz to “be polite,” prompting Waltz to accuse Tehran of killing tens of thousands of its citizens and jailing many more.
- The exchange unfolded during an emergency Security Council briefing called as hostilities involving the United States, Israel and Iran escalated.
- Waltz rejected Iran’s claims of illegality, saying U.S. actions were carried out in close coordination with Israel and justified as self-defense under the U.N. Charter’s Article 51.
- The U.S. envoy also argued that Iran backs armed proxies across the region and has fueled regional instability for decades.
- The confrontation came as Iran’s recent election as vice-chair of a U.N. Charter Committee and criticism of a congratulatory message from the U.N. secretary-general kept Tehran’s role in U.N. bodies under scrutiny, and as the United States was set to assume the Security Council presidency on March 1.