US, Russia and China clash at UN Security Council over Iran nuclear programme

The United States and its Western allies have clashed with Russia and China at the United Nations over Iran's nuclear intentions, as Washington seeks to further justify the war it launched on Iran two weeks ago.

At a meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council, chaired this month by the United States, Russia and China unsuccessfully moved to block a discussion about a committee established to oversee and enforce UN sanctions on Iran.

The attempt was overruled by a vote of 11–2 with two abstentions.

Addressing the council, US envoy to the United Nations Mike Waltz accused Moscow and Beijing of attempting to shield Tehran by obstructing the work of the so-called 1737 Committee.

"All member states of the United Nations should be implementing an arms embargo against Iran, banning the transfer and trade of missile technology, and freezing relevant financial assets," Waltz said.

"The UN provisions to be re-imposed are not arbitrary, but instead narrowly scoped to address the threat posed by Iran's nuclear, missile and conventional arms programmes and Iran's ongoing support for terrorism."

Waltz said Russia and China opposed a functioning sanctions committee "because they want to protect their partner, Iran, and continue to maintain defence cooperation that is now once again prohibited."

He also said the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency had recently reiterated that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to have produced and accumulated uranium enriched to 60 percent and had refused to provide the agency access to the stockpile.

Counter accusations

Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya rejected the claims, accusing the United States and its allies of fuelling what he described as hysteria over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"This was done in order to undertake yet another military venture against Tehran and to ensure great escalation of the situation in the Middle East and beyond," he said.

China's UN representative Fu Cong similarly criticised Washington, calling the United States the "instigator" of the Iranian nuclear crisis.

He said the United States had resorted to a "blatant use of force against Iran during the negotiation process", which he said undermined diplomatic efforts.

Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani later told reporters that Tehran's nuclear programme "has always been exclusively peaceful" and that Iran would not recognise any attempt to reimpose sanctions.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited Iran's nuclear programme as justification for the war.

He said earlier this month that Iran would have obtained a nuclear weapon within two weeks had the United States not struck three key nuclear sites in June, although sources have said the claim was not supported by US intelligence assessments.

Britain and France told the Security Council that reinstating sanctions on Iran was justified by Tehran's failure to address international concerns about its nuclear activities.