UN Security Council Rejects Draft to Permanently Lift Iran Sanctions

By Staff, Agencies

The United Nations Security Council on Friday voted against permanently lifting economic sanctions on Iran related to its peaceful nuclear program.

The draft resolution, proposed by South Korea in its role as Council president, failed to pass after nine of the 15 member states voted against it.

If no major diplomatic agreement is reached, European sanctions could be re-imposed by September 28.

Russia, China, Pakistan, and Algeria voted in favor of the draft, while two members abstained. The decision follows a move on August 28 by Britain, France, and Germany—the European signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—who notified the Security Council that they were invoking the so-called “snapback” mechanism, a 30-day process to restore all UN sanctions on Iran.

Iran rejected the European action as illegitimate, citing the US’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and the trio’s alignment with sanctions rather than fulfilling their commitments under the agreement.

China’s permanent representative to the Council, Fu Cong, criticized the timing of the vote, warning that “hastily pushing for a vote on the draft resolution might exacerbate confrontation” and questioned whether the European powers had the authority to invoke the snapback.

He urged restraint and diplomatic engagement to resolve the issue peacefully.