Iran loses UN voting rights over unpaid dues, blames US sanctions
Iran owes $16.2 million, more than any other country.
By LAHAV HARKOVPresident of Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani speaks virtually during the 75th annual UN General Assembly, which is being held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, September 22, 2020.(photo credit: UNITED NATIONS/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Iran and six other countries lost their right to vote in the UN General Assembly, because they have not paid their dues, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.Iran blamed US sanctions for blocking the Islamic Republic from paying its required contribution to the UN.Guterres wrote a letter to General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir of Turkey that the countries in arrears to the UN will have their UNGA voting rights suspended in accordance with the UN charter, which calls for the suspension of voting rights if a member state fails to pay its fees for more than two years.Iran owes $16.2 million, more than any other country.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the funds designated for UN payments are frozen in two South Korean banks, due to US sanctions. He said the Islamic Republic has a total of $7 billion in those banks.Khatibzadeh demanded that the UN guarantee the payments are safely transferred without using US banks.“Given that the United States has encroached upon Iran’s international assets before, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists that the UN not use an American intermediary bank to receive our country’s membership fee, or that this organization guarantee the financial transfer channel,” Iran International News quoted Khatibzadeh as saying.The other countries losing their UNGA voting rights are Niger, Libya, the Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.Three more countries – Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia – will be allowed to continue to vote despite missing dues payments, because they sufficiently demonstrated that they are incapable of paying.
