Melania Trump took the helm of the UN Security Council on Monday, becoming the first spouse of a sitting world leader to do so. Her remarks came just days after Iranian state media reported an airstrike that killed at least 165 people, including students, at a girls’ school in southern Iran. The meeting, titled Children, Technology and Education in Conflict, had been scheduled before the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday.

Focus on Education as a Tool for Peace

In her opening remarks, Trump emphasized the role of education in preventing conflict. She argued that a nation that values learning protects its books, language, science, and mathematics, and in turn, its future. She also highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence as a new great equalizer, urging the council to use AI to connect everyone to knowledge, even those in remote regions of the world.

Trump did not directly address the reported airstrike or the recent strikes by the US and Israel. The Israeli military stated it was not aware of strikes in the area, while the US military said it was investigating the reports.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, criticized the meeting as “deeply shameful and hypocritical”, given that the US and Israel had launched airstrikes on Iranian cities. The comments came amid growing tensions between Washington and the UN over the US’s withdrawal from several UN agencies and the unpaid dues that have put the organization at risk of financial collapse.

UN Concerns Over Funding and Relations

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, had warned in January that the organization faced “imminent financial collapse” due to unpaid dues. The US, under President Donald Trump, has pulled out of the World Health Organization, Unesco, and other UN bodies, allowing billions in mandatory dues to go unpaid.

Despite this, a UN spokesperson told the Associated Press that Melania Trump’s appearance at the Security Council demonstrated the importance the United States placed on the council and the issue of child welfare. The US holds the council’s rotating monthly presidency for March, and the White House said Trump was chosen for the session due to her focus on child welfare.

The session was the second in three days. On Saturday, an emergency meeting was called in response to the outbreak of war, but it grew contentious after Guterres condemned the US-Israeli strikes and Iran’s retaliatory attacks as violations of international law.

Melania Trump’s appearance at the UN also occurred amid ongoing tensions between the US and global humanitarian organizations. Earlier this year, Trump convened the newly formed Board of Peace, which held a UN-style meeting in Washington with dozens of countries.

Child Welfare Advocacy and Diplomatic Efforts

Melania Trump has long been an advocate for child welfare, including efforts to reunite Ukrainian children removed to Russia after the 2022 invasion. She wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin before his summit with her husband, and later claimed the effort contributed to the children’s eventual return to their families.

In her closing remarks, Trump said, “Conflict arises from ignorance, but knowledge creates understanding, replacing fear with peace and unity.” She called on Security Council members to “pledge to safeguard learning in our communities and promote access to heightened education for all.” She concluded by urging member states to “build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education.”

The meeting took place amid a broader context of global instability and rising conflicts. With the US holding the Security Council presidency, the session was seen as an opportunity to refocus attention on the protection of children in times of war, despite the geopolitical tensions that have strained US-UN relations in recent months.