Russia, China veto UN mandate to monitor Iran sanctions

Russia and China have vetoed a United States-backed resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have authorised UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions on Iran.

The resolution, shut down on Thursday, would have extended the mandate for the independent monitoring of sanctions that were reimposed last year after western powers accused Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear pact. Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons or violating the agreement.

“We strongly urge western ‌colleagues to stop their very dangerous actions on the Iran front, which threaten further complication of settling the crisis in the Persian Gulf,” Vassily ‌Nebenzia, Russia’s UN Ambassador ‌told the Security Council after the vote.

The Security Council in 2025 reinstated an independent panel of experts to monitor and report on sanctions violations by Iran, including recommending further action.

But the experts were never appointed due to disagreements among member states, leading to a lack of consensus among the 15-member Security Council.

On Thursday, 11 members voted to extend the Security Council’s mandate for monitoring sanctions, while Pakistan and Somalia abstained.

Iran’s mission to the UN thanked Russia and China for opposing what it called a “politically motivated” US draft resolution.

“Iran deeply appreciates Russia and China for their consistent and principled positions and decisive actions today,” it said in a post on X, adding that they “prevented yet another cynical attempt by the United States and its allies to abuse the Security Council for their political purposes”.