New York, New York - First lady Melania Trump is slated to chair a UN Security Council meeting on Monday in an appearance that was announced last week before her husband launched a war on Iran.

Her office said the former model would "make history at the United Nations, taking the gavel as the United States assumes the Security Council Presidency to emphasize education's role in advancing tolerance and world peace."

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, confirmed the event would mark the first time the spouse of a US president has presided over a Security Council meeting.

The US will hold the Council's rotating presidency in March, even as its relationship to the international body – and international law – has hit new lows under President Donald Trump.

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump withdrawn support from several major UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization, and set up what many see as a rival organization with his so-called "Board of Peace."

Aside from unilateral attacks on Venezuela and now Iran, he has also imposed a crushing blockade on Cuba, threatened to seize Greenland by force, and set up a foreign committee to rule over Gaza, which has been destroyed by a US-backed Israeli war classed by experts as genocidal.