China and Russia have used their veto power in the UN Security Council this Thursday to block a resolution promoted by the United States that sought to reactivate the mandate of Committee 1737, established in 2006 to control the sanctions imposed on Iran for its nuclear program.
The permanent mission of Iran to the United Nations has celebrated the move by Beijing and Moscow, to whom it has expressed its gratitude for their "consistent positions" and their "decisive actions," in overturning a draft resolution that Tehran interprets as "motivated by political reasons."
"Russia and China have once again stood firm in defending the UN Charter, International Law, and the integrity of the Council, and have prevented another cynical attempt by the United States and its allies to improperly use the Security Council for their political ends," it has pointed out on its social media.
The Iranian representation to the UN, which has also highlighted the abstention of Somalia and Pakistan in the voting, has labeled Committee 1737 as "illegitimate" and has reiterated that resolution 2231 of 2015 "expired definitively" ten years later. "From that date, all provisions, measures, restrictions, and mechanisms related to the nuclear sphere were definitively rendered ineffective," it has added.
The United Kingdom, France, and the United States maintain that international oversight over the Iranian nuclear program must be upheld and argue that Committee 1737 must resume its obligation to report every 90 days. In their view, the lack of support last year for the freezing of sanctions against Iran automatically reactivated the resolutions prior to 2015 and, consequently, the mandate of the committee created in 2006.
For their part, China and Russia reply that the Western powers were the ones who violated the 2015 nuclear agreement, and therefore they consider that any measure aimed at restoring that framework lacks legal validity.