U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz got into a fiery exchange with Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
The heated confrontation occurred after the United States and Israel conducted Operation Epic Fury on Iran.
“My advice to the representative of the United States is to be polite. It would be better for yourself and the country you represent,” Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani stated.
“I’m not going to dignify this with another response, especially as this representative sits here in this body representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people and imprisoned many more simply for wanting freedom from your tyranny,” Waltz responded.
Earlier in the meeting, Waltz insisted the U.S. military action was lawful, stressing Washington acted to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and protect global security—despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemning the strikes as “a grave threat to international peace and security.”
Guterres claimed the United States and Israel violated international law and the UN Charter by carrying out the attack, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“We are witnessing a grave threat to international peace and security,” he said. “Let me be clear, there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes,” he continued, urging an immediate return to negotiations to “pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
Guterres also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for breaking the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran fired missiles and drones at U.S. bases and facilities across the Middle East and launched counterattacks on Israel.
Waltz remarked: “The entire world has witnessed the Iranian regime’s wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians. Its presence in the Security Council makes a mockery of the body. But where the UN lacks moral clarity, President Trump and the United States of America will maintain it.”
Iravani stated that the strikes killed Iranian civilians and constituted a war crime.
Earlier Saturday, President Trump announced that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for decades, was killed in the operation.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon added at the meeting: “We are stopping extremism before it becomes unstoppable. We will ensure that no radical regime armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles can threaten our people or the entire world.”
The European Commission is planning to convene a “special Security College” about the strikes on Monday.