Washington & Moscow Trade Blows At UN As US Carrier Steams Toward Middle East

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the “brave people of Iran” have risen up and that President Donald Trump “has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter” – this despite widespread reports that the protests and rioting are over at this point.

“President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter,” Waltz told the Security Council meeting, held at the request of Washington.

“Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. They are afraid. They’re afraid of their own people,” Waltz claimed, but he did not address the huge pro-government rallies which engulfed Iranian streets from earlier this week, which largely supplanted the protests and riots.

But a near total internet outage has endured going all the way back to January 8. This suggests the crisis may not be completely finished, but Tehran is touting that security services and police are back in control of the streets.

The US is still rushing military assets to the area. “The Pentagon is moving a carrier strike group from the South China Sea to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes the Middle East, as tensions escalate between the Trump administration and Iran,” according to NewsNation.

“Moving the carrier strike group – a naval formation centering around an aircraft carrier, with a variety of other vessels, including at least one attack submarine – is expected to take about a week, a source said,” the report continues. “The USS Abraham Lincoln reportedly is the aircraft carrier that is on the move.“

Meanwhile, Russian ​President Vladimir Putin is putting himself forward as potential mediator, ⁠which was conveyed in a fresh phone conversation with Iran’s President Masoud ​Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for Moscow’s support at the United Nations in the wake of the crisis.

A readout indicated Pezeshkian thanked Putin for “Russia’s position” and explained that “the role and direct involvement of the United States and the Zionist regime in recent events in Iran is evident” – in reference to Israel.

Previously at the UN emergency session, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia charged the United States with convening the Security Council in a bid to “justify blatant aggression and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state” and threats to “solve the Iranian problem in its favorite way: through strikes aimed at overthrowing an undesirable regime.”

As tensions rise between U.S. and Iran, the Pentagon is moving a carrier strike group toward Middle East. The USS Abraham Lincoln, west of the Philippines, turned west yesterday, detected on @CopernicusEU satellite imagery by @oballinger’s computer program. 11.9892, 117.9423. pic.twitter.com/Zz8rokebZq

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) January 15, 2026

The swipe and reminder of Washington’s addiction to regime change also comes on the heels of the Trump-ordered January 3rd overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Amb. Nebenzia said further: “We strongly urge the hot heads in Washington and other capitals… to come to their senses.”

At the same time, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged “maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or ignite a wider regional escalation.”