Russia and China veto US proposal for UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions on Iran

Security Council resolution regarding ongoing monitoring of sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program defeated despite 11-2 vote in favor because of Russian and Chinese vetoes; sanctions themselves remain in effect

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Sercurity Council resolution Thursday that would have authorized UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions that were reimposed against Iran last year over its nuclear program.

The Security Council sanctions are still in effect, which freeze Iran’s assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures.

Using a provision in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the “snapback” mechanism, which reimposed the sanctions on Sept. 27, 2025. It restored the Security Council sanctions committee and authorized a panel of UN experts to monitor implementation.

The United States had drafted a resolution to extend the UN expert panel’s mandate for a year. The resolution failed despite a vote of 11-2 in its favor, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining, because of the Russian and Chinese vetoes.

It comes as the Trump administration is pursuing a wider campaign to isolate Tehran from its remaining economic partners as the more than six-month-old war in Iran has hit a stalemate. Separately, Thursday, the administration went after digital currency networks that it says are illegally providing sanctioned Iranian entities with access to the international financial system.

The Treasury and State Departments announced that they had targeted two companies — BitBank and the Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Co. — and three associates of BitBank’s previously sanctioned chief, Babak Zanjani, who are accused of playing a role in helping Iran evade sanctions.

Illustrative: Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

At the United Nations, Iran’s UN mission thanked China and Russia for vetoing the US 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.”

Since Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, UN nuclear inspectors have been unable to verify the status of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. The UN nuclear watchdog has said Iran maintained a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

US deputy ambassador to the UN Jennifer Locetta said the United States wasn’t surprised by the vetoes on Thursday because the experts “would have shined the light” on prohibited cooperation between Iran and its partners.

This image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran’s IRINN news on June 13, 2025 shows what the television described as smoke billowing from explosions in Natanz after Israel announced it had carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites. (IRINN / AFP)

She said the vetoes are part of a broader effort to prevent expert monitoring of sanctions, and even the appointment of panel members, “to stifle reporting that implicates their own activities in support of rogue regimes.”

In March 2024, a Russian veto ended UN monitoring of sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program. In Mali, sanctions were terminated, and Locetta said that in Yemen and the Central African Republic expert appointments have been delayed or refused.

While the panel of experts for Iran was authorized a year ago and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed members, they were never approved.

“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,” Locetta warned.

Russian 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.”

Russia and China had strongly urged the US and its allies not to put the resolution to a vote, which would only increase tensions in the council, Nebenzia said, but Washington “decided to opt for confrontation.”

French UN Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, the current council president, said implementing sanctions is “a crucial instrument to encourage Iran” to return to its nuclear obligations. France will study how to ensure sanctions are enforced, he said.

One possibility would be to follow what happened after the North Korea panel of experts was abolished: establishing a monitoring team that includes France, Germany, the UK and the United States.