Russia and China vetoed on Thursday, 17 September 2026, a US-drafted Security Council resolution that would have renewed for one year the mandate of an expert panel tasked with independently monitoring the implementation of UN sanctions on Iran, ending the mandate without affecting the sanctions themselves, according to the position of Western countries.
Voting results and the expert panel’s mandate
US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jennifer Loscetta said the absence of an independent panel deprived the council of a key source of impartial, evidence-based reporting on sanctions violations, creating a monitoring gap that those seeking to evade the measures could exploit.
By contrast, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, reiterated Moscow’s rejection of the legality of reimposing the sanctions, saying the draft mandate extension had no legal basis.
Russia and China maintain that the sanctions expired when the timeframe for Resolution 2231 ended on 18 October 2025, while France, Britain and Germany say the snapback mechanism was lawfully activated after accusing Tehran of failing to meet its obligations under the 2015 nuclear agreement. Iran denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
