From the Liveblog of
Friday, January 16, 2026
5 countries call for UN Human Rights Council to hold session on ‘alarming’ Iran violence
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The United Nations Human Rights Council should hold an urgent session to discuss the “alarming violence” in Iran, several countries urge.
In a letter addressed to the council’s president, Britain, Germany, Iceland, Moldova and North Macedonia request that the UN’s top rights body “hold a special session to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“A special session is needed because of the importance and urgency of the situation,” reads the letter, seen by AFP.
It highlights “credible reports of alarming violence, crackdowns on protesters and violations of international human rights law across the country.”
The request, which requires the backing of at least a third of the council’s 47 members to go through, is made as Iran reeled from some of the biggest anti-government protests in its history, and a crackdown that monitors said had left thousands dead.
The demonstrations appeared to have subsided Friday in the face of the harsh repression and a week-long internet blackout.
The UN Security Council in New York met on Thursday to discuss the situation in Iran.
There had already been broad support among rights council members for the special session request, a source close to the matter tells AFP.
Countries have been given until Monday to back the requested session, for which no date has yet been set.
The Times of Israel Community.