Last Updated Jan 2, 2018 2:53 PM EST
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley addressed the deadly protests in Iran and the North Korea nuclear threat on Tuesday at the United Nations. Haley said the U.N. “must speak” on the issue and that the U.S. will call for emergency sessions in the coming days.
“The Iranian dictatorship is trying to do what it always does, which is to say that the protests were designed by enemies. We all know that is complete nonsense,” Haley said on Tuesday.
At least 450 people have reportedly been arrested in the last three days as violent protests against the country’s leadership spread across the Islamic Republic. The demonstrations began Thursday, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports, with a single demonstration in the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad, over economic hardship, and a dramatic jump in food prices in particular.
“The U.N. must speak out,” Haley said Tuesday. “We must not be silent. The people of Iran are crying out for freedom.”
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a brief press availability at United Nations headquarters, January 2, 2018 in New York City.
Getty
Haley also addressed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s comments that the U.S. should be aware that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat.
“The civilized world must remain united and vigilant against the rogue state’s development of a nuclear arsenal. We will never accept a nuclear North Korea,” Haley said.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
