US envoy calls for emergency UN session on Iran

The US ambassador to the United Nations called on the international community to speak out on the unfolding protests in Iran, saying Washington will push for emergency UN talks on the situation.

Nikki Haley said the US would be seeking emergency sessions of the UN Security Council and the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission in the coming days.

"The people of Iran are crying out for freedom," Haley said at a news conference. "All freedom-loving people must stand with their cause."

Haley rejected as "complete nonsense" charges by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the five-day-old protests were being fomented by the country's "enemies".

"The freedoms that are enshrined in the United Nations charter are under attack in Iran. Dozens have already been killed. Hundreds have been arrested," she said.

"If the Iranian dictatorship's history is any guide, we can expect more outrageous abuses in the days to come."

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets in anti-government rallies last Friday, in what was thought to be the biggest show of public defiance since 2009.

The protests came a day after demonstrations against rising food prices and inflation began in second city Mashhad, with authorities arresting 52 protesters over the unrest.

As violence has grown, authorities have stepped up arrests, with at least 450 people detained in Tehran since Saturday and 100 more around Isfahan on Monday, officials told local media.

More than nine people, including a member of the Revolutionary Guards and a policeman, were killed overnight Monday.

The unrest in Iran appears leaderless and focused on provincial towns and cities, with only small and sporadic protests in Tehran as a heavy police presence was reported.

Iran's reformist politicians condemned the violence and blamed the US for encouraging "troublemakers", but also called on the authorities to address economic grievances that have fuelled the protests.

Rouhani came to power in 2013 promising to mend the economy and ease social tensions, but high living costs and a 12 percent unemployment rate have left many feeling that progress is too slow.

The young are most affected, with as many as 40 percent out of work according to analysts, and rural areas particularly hard-hit.