US Isolated for Anti-Iran Resolution at Security Council

In a major blow to Washington’s unilateralism, the United States failed to extend the United Nations arms embargo on Iran which will expire in October.

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Close U.S. allies opted to abstain from taking part in the UN Security Council (UNSC) vote on Friday, leaving the U.S. with the backing of only the Dominican Republic. The resolution needed support from nine of 15 votes to pass.

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, responded on social media, tweeting “The result of the vote in #UNSC on arms embargo against Iran shows—once more—the US' isolation. Council's message: NO to UNILATERALISM. US must learn from this debacle. Its attempt to “snapback" sanctions is illegal, and was rejected by int'l community, as was evident today.” 

Permanent Members Russia and China voted against the unlawful resolution, while 11 countries abstained: France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Estonia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Vietnam, South Africa, Indonesia, Tunisia and Niger.

Iran has accused the U.S. of “actively resorting to Iran-phobia and coercion” to gain support at the Council but says Washington was forced to retreat from an earlier draft resolution, after being rebuffed by UNSC members. 

Commenting on the news on Saturday, President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, said the United States has generated the story about the seizure of four tankers carrying Iranian gasoline bound for Venezuela after suffering its embarrassing diplomatic defeat: “U.S. lied about seizing four Iran oil shipments in international waters. Neither the tankers nor their flags were Iranian. It was a lie to cover up humiliation at UNSC."

Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, echoed the sentiments of Iranian officials saying Trump remains alone at the Security Council: “His closest associates refrain from supporting legal nonsense. Trump found the limits to his arrogance. The UN does not belong to him.”

Venezuela has also been a target of U.S. attempts to pass unilateral and hostile resolutions at the Security Council.

The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to unlawfully trigger the so-called snapback provisions of the 2015 nuclear deal if it cannot secure an arms embargo extension.

The U.S. has turned to its maximum pressure campaign against Iran since leaving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.