Russia on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called out Iran for failing to prevent its weapons from falling into the hands of Yemen's Houthi group.
However, the 15-member council unanimously adopted a rival, Russian-proposed resolution that did not mention Iran and that extended a targeted sanctions regime related to Yemen, where a proxy war is playing out between Iran and US ally, Saudi Arabia.
The Russian veto was a defeat for the United States, which has been lobbying for months for Iran to be held accountable at the United Nations, while at the same time threatening to quit a 2015 deal among world powers to curb Iran's nuclear programme if "disastrous flaws" are not fixed.
Britain had drafted a resolution in consultation with the United States and France that initially wanted to condemn Iran for violating an arms embargo on Houthi leaders and include a council commitment to take action over it.
The latest British draft dropped the condemnation and instead expressed concern that UN experts monitoring the sanctions reported Iran had violated a targeted arms embargo by failing to stop missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles reaching the Houthis.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran-allied Houthi rebels. Iran has denied supplying the Houthis weapons.
A UN Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, France or Britain to pass. The British-drafted resolution received 11 votes for, two against – including Russia's veto – and two abstentions.
