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As many as 42,000 African migrants or "infiltrators" have entered Israel illegally, BBC News reported. Of those, nearly 1,500 are currently held at the Holot detention center for attempting asylum. Many of the immigrants, who are mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, fled to Israel seeking asylum from persecution and conflict.

Infiltrator is a term the Israeli government uses to describe people who entered the country illegally. The government currently considers most of the "infiltrators" to be economic migrants.

Those who leave within the allotted time will receive up to $3,500, airfare, and other incentives, according to Ynet. They also can choose whether to return to their home country or a third country.

Last month, the government approved a bill to close the detention facility and expel its inhabitants to Rwanda, which has caused concern among some human rights groups. Israel and Rwanda also recently signed an agreement whereby asylum-seekers can be sent to Rwanda even without their consent. The advocacy group, Hotline for Migrant Workers, told Ynet that the expulsions "put the refugees' lives in danger."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the African migrants threaten the nation's Jewish character.

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"We do not see any UNSC role in this issue... [In Iran] there are certain domestic processes, the UNSC is a certain body, which is responsible under the UN Charter for maintaining international peace and security, Iran's internal issues have nothing to do to this UNSC function," Ryabkov said.

"Of course we cannot predict the developments of the situation as for a call of this hypothetical session, but I am sure that in contrast with this harmful and destructive US idea, we will set out our position, which is very consistent and is fully based on the adherence to the norms of international law," Ryabkov said.

Possible Sanctions

The Russian deputy foreign minister has also touched upon the issue of possible sanctions against Iran over the social unrest in the country.

"Our position is well known, unilateral sanctions, as a way to resolve problems relating to foreign policy, are unacceptable, they are illegitimate. The problem is that the oversimplification of the US foreign policy has gone too far. [The United States], in my opinion, has no other tools apart from sanctions in their arsenal of doing business with other members of the international community that are not ready to stand in line and follow the United States," Ryabkov said.

"We will counter Washington's sanctions pressuring as we used to. And our position fully applies to the situation in the US-Iranian relations. We categorically reject such tricks and insist that the threats to impose sanctions are also illegitimate," Ryabkov added.

"The current situation, when Washington falls to temptation to use the moment to raise new issues regarding to the JCPOA, shows the deliberate attempt to undermine and shatter the international community's commitment the JCPOA," Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday. The diplomat also stressed that what is going on in the Islamic republic is a domestic issue, and urged the US to refrain from meddling.

The deputy foreign minister also reminded the US that the P5+1 initiative was no bilateral agreement, but the result of difficult and lengthy negotiations, which cannot be unilaterally amended.

"It is a destructive approach to arbitrarily snatch out of the total package only what suits the Americans and demand to change those provisions that Americans are not satisfied with for unknown reasons," Ryabkov stated. He also warned that such an approach could undermine the whole deal, which took years of hard work to finalize.

Tehran has continued to fire back at the US stance. Khoshroo condemned the American administration's "acts of intervention in a grotesque way in Iran's internal affairs." The ambassador said that Washington had meddled in Iranian domestic affairs under the pretext of support for the rallies, "which in several instances were hijacked by infiltrators to include acts of senseless homicide."

"The current US administration has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations," Khoshroo said in a letter to the UN, cited by Tasnim news agency on Thursday.
...
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that hostile statements on the ongoing protests in Iran by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia could lead to a war. He also urged all parties to maintain balance in relations with the Islamic Republic, while seeking ways to "increase international pressure" on it.
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Speaking to RT, some Iranians pointed to the unfair treatment of their country. Despite some praising American support, others said that demonstrations on the same issues could occur anywhere.

"In any country, people can protest against high prices. But whenever such demonstrations happen in our country, opponents of the establishment come out and support them," a woman told RT. Another local resident said that authorities' opponents use the riots "for their own purposes" each time demonstrations take place.