UNITED NATIONS, Thursday, January 15, 2026 (WNP): Pakistan on Thursday urged restraint and respect for international law during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Iran, expressing hope for an early normalization of conditions and warning against any external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.<\/p>\n
Addressing the 15-member Council, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, underscored that the UN Charter explicitly prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states, as well as interference in matters essentially within domestic jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWE HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY OBSERVING DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAN AND THE REGION IN RECENT DAYS,\u201d THE PAKISTANI ENVOY SAID, CAUTIONING THAT EMERGING TENSIONS POSE SERIOUS RISKS TO REGIONAL PEACE AND STABILITY.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Describing Iran as a \u201cbrotherly country,\u201d Ambassador Asim highlighted the deep historical, cultural, religious and people-to-people ties between Pakistan and Iran. \u201cA stable and peaceful Iran is in the interest of Pakistan, the region and beyond,\u201d he said, adding that Islamabad has \u201cfull confidence in the wisdom of the Iranian people and leadership,\u201d shaped by the country\u2019s history, culture and resilience.<\/p>\n
He reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s principled position that disputes must be resolved through peaceful means and dialogue, warning that continued hostilities, unilateral actions and the use of force would only deepen crises and exacerbate human suffering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWE SINCERELY HOPE THAT THE SITUATION IN IRAN WILL SOON RETURN TO CALM AND NORMALCY, FREE FROM INTERNAL TURMOIL AND EXTERNAL PRESSURE,\u201d AMBASSADOR ASIM SAID, URGING ALL PARTIES TO RETURN TO NEGOTIATIONS BASED ON MUTUAL RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Security Council meeting was convened at the request of the United States, whose envoy, Ambassador Mike Waltz, criticized Iranian authorities\u2019 actions against protestors and voiced support for demonstrators, stating that President Donald Trump stood with the Iranian people. He accused Tehran of being solely responsible for the country\u2019s economic hardships and warned that the government would be held accountable.<\/p>\n
Briefing the Council at the outset, UN Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee described the situation in Iran as \u201cfluid and deeply concerning,\u201d noting that protests continued, though reportedly at a smaller scale than the previous week. She also expressed alarm over public statements suggesting possible military strikes, warning that such rhetoric added volatility to an already fragile situation.<\/p>\n
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ANT\u00d3NIO GUTERRES, SHE SAID, REMAINS CONVINCED THAT CONCERNS RELATED TO IRAN\u2014INCLUDING ITS NUCLEAR ISSUE AND DOMESTIC UNREST\u2014ARE BEST ADDRESSED THROUGH DIPLOMACY AND DIALOGUE, URGING MAXIMUM RESTRAINT TO PREVENT FURTHER LOSS OF LIFE OR REGIONAL ESCALATION.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The debate reflected sharp divisions among major powers. Russia\u2019s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Washington of escalating tensions and using the meeting to justify interference in Iran\u2019s internal affairs, warning against what he described as a pattern of regime-change operations. China\u2019s Ambassador Sun Lei echoed those concerns, stressing that sovereignty and non-interference are fundamental principles of international relations and cautioning that the use of force would push the region toward instability.<\/p>\n
Responding to the accusations, Iran\u2019s Deputy Permanent Representative Gholamhossein Darzi said he spoke on behalf of a \u201cnation in mourning,\u201d accusing the United States of spreading disinformation and of attempting to exploit unrest in Iran to justify political destabilization and potential military intervention.<\/p>\n
The protests in Iran began on December 28, sparked by demonstrations in Tehran\u2019s bazaars over the collapse of the national currency, soaring inflation and worsening living conditions. As the Security Council deliberations concluded, several members reiterated calls for restraint, dialogue and adherence to international law to prevent further escalation in an already volatile region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Thursday, January 15, 2026 (WNP): Pakistan on Thursday urged restraint and respect for international law during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Iran, expressing hope for an early normalization of conditions and warning against any external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Addressing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,80,65,75,58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-84592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-diplomacy","8":"category-exclusive","9":"category-foreign-missions","10":"category-usa","11":"category-world","12":"post_format-post-format-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84594,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84592\/revisions\/84594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}