Russia and China Veto UN Bid to Extend Iran Sanctions Panel

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have extended the mandate of the panel of experts supporting the 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee for one year, until September 2027.

The resolution, authored by the United States, drew 11 votes in favour, two against and two abstentions. The negative votes of Russia and China, both permanent members, amounted to a veto, and the draft was therefore not adopted.

Russia's Permanent Representative, Vasily Nebenzya, said there were "no legal or procedural grounds" for holding the meeting, arguing that the agenda item had ceased to exist. He rejected claims that a "snapback" of sanctions had occurred, describing them as an attempt to lend an "illusion of legitimacy" to such assertions, and requested a procedural vote on the adoption of the agenda.

China's Ambassador, Fu Cong, said the situation in the Middle East and negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue were at a deep impasse. He urged the Council to promote negotiations and ease tensions rather than become "a platform for individual members to pursue political confrontation and exert pressure." He called on the countries concerned to implement measures relating to Termination Day under Resolution 2231 and asked the Council's rotating president to respect the concerns of all parties and avoid division.

The vote follows the triggering, in August 2025, of the "snapback" mechanism by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran that had been suspended under the 2015 nuclear deal and Resolution 2231. Russia and China reject that move as legally invalid, maintaining that all sanctions ended permanently on 18 October 2025, when Resolution 2231 was due to expire.

France's Ambassador, Jérôme Bonnafont, who presided over the session, put the draft resolution contained in document S/2026/740 to the vote and announced the result: 11 in favour, two against and two abstentions, with the text not adopted owing to the negative vote of two permanent members.

U.S. Ambassador Jennifer Locetta said she was not surprised by the veto of the panel's mandate extension, arguing that the panel would have examined bilateral defensive cooperation between Iran and its partners that the Council has prohibited. She described the veto as part of a broader effort to prevent the appointment or renewal of expert panels in order to stifle reporting on activities in support of rogue regimes.

British Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh said the United Kingdom regretted that Russia and China had chosen to exercise their veto, which she said shielded Iran and undermined the Council's work to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. She pointed to Russia's March 2024 veto that ended the panel monitoring sanctions on North Korea, and accused Russia of facilitating sanctions evasion by Iran and the DPRK while receiving Iranian-designed Shahed drones and North Korean ballistic missiles.

The International Atomic Energy Agency remains the only independent monitor of Iran's nuclear programme. On 10 September, for the first time in 20 years, the IAEA Board of Governors asked Director General Rafael Grossi to report Iran's non-compliance to the UN Security Council.