Russia and China veto UN resolution on monitoring Iran nuclear sanctions
Russia and China vetoed a US-backed UN Security Council resolution that would have extended independent expert monitoring of sanctions reimposed on Iran's nuclear programme. The sanctions themselves remain in force, but oversight of their enforcement has been lost.
The UN Security Council on Thursday rejected a US-drafted resolution that would have extended for one year the mandate of an expert panel monitoring sanctions reimposed on Iran. The vote stood at 11 in favor, with Russia and China casting vetoes and Somalia and Pakistan abstaining.
The underlying sanctions were reimposed on 27 September last year through the snapback mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal, triggered by France, Germany and the United Kingdom. They freeze Iranian assets abroad, restrict arms deals with Tehran, and penalize its ballistic missile programme. Those measures remain in place, but the veto eliminates the independent oversight mechanism that tracked compliance.
Wider pressure campaign
The vote came as the Trump administration continues a broader push to economically isolate Tehran. On the same day, the US Treasury and State Departments announced sanctions against two companies, BitBank and Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Co., along with three associates of BitBank's previously sanctioned chief, Babak Zanjani, accused of helping Iran evade sanctions through digital currency networks.
Iran's UN mission thanked Russia and China, saying on social media the countries had blocked another attempt by the US and its allies to misuse the Security Council for political purposes. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia repeated Moscow's position that the snapback itself was illegal, making the resolution to extend the panel's mandate legally baseless.
French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said sanctions enforcement remains a key tool to encourage Iran's return to its nuclear obligations, and that France would examine options, possibly modeled on the monitoring team set up after the North Korea expert panel was disbanded. US deputy ambassador Jennifer Locetta warned that without an independent panel, the council loses its main source of impartial evidence on sanctions violations, creating a gap that benefits Iran and those evading the measures.
Since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, UN inspectors have been unable to verify Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, previously reported at 440.9 kilograms enriched to 60% purity — close to weapons-grade levels.
