Sputnik News - The UN Security Council will meet Friday afternoon to discuss the crisis in Iran after the United States asked the body to address deadly protests there, a source told Sputnik.



"The UNSC meeting is scheduled for�3 p.m. [20:00GMT] on�Friday and will be held in�an open format," the source said.


The Council's daily program for�Friday, published on�its website, shows the 15-nation body would meet in�the afternoon to�discuss the "situation in�the Middle East."

US Ambassador to�the UN Nikki Haley told reporters Tuesday she would seek an emergency UN meeting in�New York City and at�the UN human rights agency in�Geneva.

Nikki Haley has said that Friday�s emergency meeting on�Iran protests would try to�prevent Syria atrocities from�repeating in�Iran, in�a statement by�the US mission.
"Tomorrow the UN Security Council will discuss the troubling and dangerous situation in�Iran. The world has witnessed the horrors that have taken place in�Syria� We must not let that happen in�Iran," Haley said.


Haley argued in�the statement that what Washington sees as�a crackdown on�protesters was a matter of "international peace and security." She said it would be telling if any country were to�oppose the UN having this discussion.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert warned earlier on�Thursday that Washington had ample means to�hold those responsible for�the violent crackdown on protesters in�Iran accountable.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik the US call for�an urgent UN meeting on�Iran's domestic affairs was "harmful and destructive." He argued that it was not UN's role as�a watchdog of�international peace to�discuss Iran's domestic issues.

In the past�week, the Islamic Republic has seen the largest popular unrest in�nearly a decade. Protests began over�price hikes and unemployment but�then turned to�broader issues like�the clerical rule. At least 20 people have reportedly been killed and 450 have been detained.