Russia and China Veto U.S. UN Resolution Extending Iran Sanctions Monitoring

Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted UN Security Council resolution to extend the mandate of UN experts monitoring sanctions reimposed on Iran over its nuclear programme, defeating the proposal by a vote of 11-2 with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining.

“defeated by a vote of 11-2, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining”

Euronews

The UN Security Council sanctions were reimposed on 27 September last year under the snapback mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal and remain in effect, freezing Iranian assets abroad, restricting arms deals with Tehran and penalising the development of its ballistic missile programme.

Al Jazeera

France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the snapback provision, restoring the Security Council sanctions committee and authorising the panel of experts to monitor compliance, but Thursday’s veto removed that oversight without lifting the underlying sanctions.

The Euronews report says the U.S. drafted the resolution to extend the UN expert panel’s mandate for a year, while the Al Jazeera report says the resolution would have authorised UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions reimposed last year after western powers accused Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear pact.

After the vote, Iran’s UN mission thanked China and Russia for vetoing the U.S. resolution, saying on social media that the countries “prevented yet another cynical attempt by the United States and its allies to abuse the Security Council for their political purposes.”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia reiterated Moscow’s claim that the “snapback” of sanctions against Iran was illegal, and therefore the resolution to extend the mandate of the panel of experts “was deeply flawed and did not have any legal basis.”

Anadolu Ajansı

The Euronews account says Washington was not surprised by the vetoes because the experts “would have shone the light” on prohibited cooperation between Iran and its partners, while the Al Jazeera account quotes Nebenzia urging western colleagues to stop actions that “threaten further complication of settling the crisis in the Persian Gulf.”

The Al Jazeera report also says the experts were never appointed due to disagreements among member states, leading to a lack of consensus among the 15-member Security Council, while Euronews adds that the panel’s mandate was authorised a year ago and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed members, but they were never approved.

Euronews says the veto removes independent monitoring without lifting sanctions, and it adds that UN nuclear inspectors have been unable to verify the status of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium since Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025.E

“Without an independent panel of experts, this council loses its principal source of impartial, evidence-based reporting”

Euronews

The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran maintained a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%, and Euronews reports that Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia reiterated the “snapback” was illegal.E

Jennifer Locetta, Washington’s deputy ambassador to the UN, warned that “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 the measures.

The Euronews report also says the moves came as the Trump administration pursues a broader campaign to isolate Tehran economically, including U.S. ETreasury and State Departments targeting two companies—BitBank and the Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Co.—and three associates of BitBank’s previously sanctioned chief, Babak Zanjani.