AFTER weeks of escalating tension, United States and Iranian officials faced each other Thursday at the United Nations security council.

US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz took the opportunity to renew US threats against Iran.

He told the council: “Colleagues, let me be clear: President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the UN.

“He has made it clear that all options are on the table to stop the slaughter. And no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.”

Mr Waltz’s remarks came as the prospect of US retaliation for the protesters’ deaths still hung over the region, though President Trump has recently signalled a possible de-escalation, saying the killing of protesters in Iran appeared to be ending.

Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have spent the last few days lobbying President Trump, warning a US military intervention would shake the global economy and further destabilise the region.

Iran’s deputy UN envoy Gholamhossein Darzi told the council that his country “seeks neither escalation nor confrontation.

“However, any act of aggression, direct or indirect, will be met with a decisive, proportionate and lawful response under Article 51 of the UN Charter.”

The US delegation was joined by two US-based Iranian dissidents, Masih Alinejad and Ahmad Batebi, in slamming the government’s bloody crackdown on protests that have reportedly killed at least 2,677 people.

Ms Alinejad accused the Iranians of trying “to kill me three times. I have seen my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden, in my home in Brooklyn.”

Both called on the world body to do more to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses.

Mr Batebi also pleaded with President Trump not to “leave” the Iranian people alone.

“You encouraged people to go into the streets. That was a good thing. But don’t leave them alone,” he said.