Key facts
- Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to extend the mandate for monitoring sanctions on Iran.
- The UN Security Council has been operating without a panel of experts on Iran for the past year due to disagreements on appointments.
- The US stated that the absence of an independent panel creates a monitoring gap that benefits Iran and sanctions evaders.
- Russia and China accused Western counterparts of politicizing the Security Council.
- Russia urged Western nations to cease actions that threaten to complicate the settlement of the crisis in the Persian Gulf.
Russia and China on Thursday ended a United Nations Security Council mandate for the independent monitoring of international sanctions on Iran, reviving their argument that all UN measures on Tehran had been removed under a nuclear deal with world powers. All UN sanctions on Iran were reimposed a year ago after France, Britain and Germany accused Tehran of violating the 2015 nuclear pact meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, though Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
This included the return of an independent panel of experts to monitor and report to the 15-member Security Council on violations and recommend further action. However, the council has been operating without a panel of experts on Iran for the past year because it has been unable to agree on their appointment, a move that must be done by consensus.
Russia and China then vetoed a resolution that would have extended the mandate for the independent monitoring of sanctions. Eleven council members voted in favor, while Pakistan and Somalia abstained. Deputy US Ambassador Jennifer Locetta told the council after the vote that without an independent panel of experts, the council loses its principal source of impartial, evidence-based reporting on sanctions violations, creating a monitoring gap that only benefits the Iranian regime and those who profit from evading those measures. The United States and Israel went to war with Iran seven months ago, arguing that their aim was to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term in office, describing the pact as "the worst deal ever."
Russia and China accused their Western counterparts of politicizing the Security Council on Thursday. Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that they strongly urged Western colleagues to stop their very dangerous actions on the Iran front, which threaten further complication of settling of the crisis in the Persian Gulf. He added that the only way to resolve disagreements and to alleviate concerns pertaining to the Iranian nuclear program is through political and diplomatic efforts.