The Associated Press, 5 January 2018— The UN Security Council is planning an emergency meeting about Iran on Friday after the US asked the world body to show support for Iran’s anti-government protesters.

Alma Konurbayeva, a spokeswoman for current council president Kazakhstan, confirmed that Friday afternoon’s meeting is about Iran. The US called on Tuesday for such a session, but council members could insist on a vote before taking up the topic, and it would take nine of the 15 votes to go forward.

“This is a matter of fundamental human rights for the Iranian people, but it is also a matter of international peace and security,” the US envoy, Nikki Haley, said in a statement Thursday night. She added that it would be “telling if any country tries to deny the Security Council from even having this discussion.”

Iran’s interior minister said up to 42,000 people took part in the week of protests and unrest sparked by economic woes. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has accused the US of instigating the protests.

Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, said Thursday that an American CIA official was the “main designer” of the demonstrations. And Iran’s UN envoy, Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo, complained in a letter to the Security Council president Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s “absurd tweets” had “incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts.”

Trump’s administration has denied having any hand in the demonstrations, saying they arose completely spontaneously.

 People are affected by tear gas fired by anti-riot Iranian police to disperse demonstrators in a protest over Iran’s weak economy, in Tehran, Iran.

Trump tweets

The president’s tweets haven’t called for violence or disruptive acts, but he has commended the protests, expressing “such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government” and pledging “great support from the United States.” Haley praised the anti-government protesters as brave and said “the U.N. must speak out” to support them.

“The people of Iran are crying out for freedom. All freedom-loving people must stand with their cause,” she said at a news conference Tuesday. Not all council members see a need to weigh in.

After taking office last year, Trump refused this past fall to certify Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that lifted some sanctions in return for Iran curbing its nuclear program. Trump said Tehran was getting disproportionate benefits, considering its concessions.

The US imposed new sanctions Thursday on five Iranian entities over their involvement in developing ballistic missiles. While those sanctions were unrelated to the ongoing protests, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said more sanctions “targeting human rights abuses are coming.”