Russia and China have vetoed a United States-backed resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have authorized UN experts to monitor sanctions on Iran. The resolution was shut down on Thursday and aimed to extend the mandate for independent monitoring of sanctions that were reimposed last year after Western powers accused Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear pact. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons or violating the agreement.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN Ambassador, stated after the vote, "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."
The Security Council reinstated an independent panel of experts in 2025 to monitor and report on sanctions violations by Iran, including recommending further action. However, the experts were never appointed due to disagreements among member states, resulting in 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, stating, "Iran deeply appreciates Russia and China for their consistent and principled positions and decisive actions today," and added that they “prevented yet another cynical attempt by the United States and its allies to abuse the Security Council for their political purposes.”
UN sanctions were officially reimposed against Iran in September 2025 when France, Germany, and the United Kingdom triggered the “snapback” mechanism, reinstating six earlier Security Council resolutions sanctioning Iran’s nuclear and military programs.
Jennifer Locetta, the deputy US Ambassador to the UN, commented after the vote, “Without an independent panel of experts, this 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.”
Earlier this week, the US barred Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, from attending the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) annual conference in Vienna after the Security Council rejected a waiver to lift his travel ban, which is part of the so-called “snapback” sanctions targeting Iranian officials linked to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Eslami and his delegation were forced to cancel their trip to the five-day conference after Austria revoked his visa, according to Iranian state media.