Published:  08:00 AM, 06 October 2025

Smokescreen over Iran embargoes widens rifts in Middle East

 
The UN Security Council a couple of days ago failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended United Nations sanctions relief under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The UN Security Council did not adopt a draft resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Iran, but Tehran and key European powers still have eight days to try and agree to a delay.

The 15-member UN Security Council was required to vote on the draft resolution on Friday after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process on August 28 to reimpose UN sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies having any such intention.

Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria voted in favor of the draft text on Friday. Nine members voted against it, while two abstained.

The Security Council vote has now set up a week of intense diplomacy while world leaders – including Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian – are in New York for the annual high-level UN General Assembly.

Britain, France and Germany have offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months – to allow space for talks on a long-term deal on Tehran’s nuclear program – if Iran restores access for UN nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engages in talks with the United States.

Any delay on reimposing sanctions would require a Security Council resolution. If a deal on an extension can’t be reached by the end of September 27 then all UN sanctions will be reimposed.

Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said that while the US voted “no” on Friday, it “does not impede the possibility of real diplomacy,” adding that a return of sanctions on Iran “does not preclude later removal through diplomacy.”

“More importantly, US President Donald Trump has continued to reiterate the United States’ ongoing readiness for meaningful, direct, and time-bound dialog with Iran – be it prior to the conclusion of the snapback process on September 27, or after,” she told the council.

Rounding out the discussion, Iran’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, described the resolution as “a genuine endeavour to keep the door for diplomacy and dialogue open” and recalled that his country has been a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty since 1970 and pursued its rights to peaceful nuclear energy “with all transparency and readiness to address every question in good faith”.  Today’s situation, he said, is “the direct consequence” of the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA and the E3’s failure to take any effective action to uphold their commitments.  




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