Russia, China veto UN mandate to monitor Iran sanctions

Russia and China have vetoed a United States-backed resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have authorised UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions on Iran. The resolution, shut down on Thursday, would have extended the mandate for the independent monitoring of sanctions that were reimposed last year after western powers accused Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear pact. Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons or violating the agreement. “We strongly urge western ‌colleagues to stop their very dangerous actions on the Iran front, which threaten further complication of settling the crisis in the Persian Gulf,” Vassily ‌Nebenzia, Russia’s UN Ambassador ‌told the Security Council after the vote.