Russia Vetoes UN Yemen Resolution Targeting Iran

Russia, wielding its veto powers, has quashed a UN Security Council resolution that was aimed at Iran for failing to prevent its missiles from being used in the Yemeni conflic

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2018 ) :Russia, wielding its veto powers, has quashed a UN Security Council resolution that was aimed at Iran for failing to prevent its missiles from being used in the Yemeni conflict.

The UK.-drafted resolution, strongly supported by the United States, garnered 11 favourable votes in the 15-member Security Council but was blocked by Russia's veto. China and Kazakhstan abstained, while Bolivia also voted against the measure.

Nine votes and no negative votes from the five permanent council members -- Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States -- are required to adopt resolutions at the Security Council. After the veto, the council unanimously adopted a Russian-drafted measure that extended for one year the sanctions regime against Yemen, but which made no mention of Iran.

Both resolutions were meant to renew the sanctions imposed on Yemen, which were set to expire on Monday. The original resolution that named Iran was based on the findings of a January report produced by a UN panel of experts.

The panel said Iran violated the 2015 arms embargo by failing "to take the necessary measures" to prevent the direct or indirect supply of missiles and drones to Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. The experts examined missile remnants fired into Saudi Arabia by the Houthis last year and said many "are consistent with those of the Iranian designed and manufactured Qiam-1 missile.

" While the report stated that Tehran had violated the embargo by failing to block arms shipments, the experts were unable to identify the supplier.

"We cannot concur with uncorroborated conclusions and evidence which requires verification and discussions within the sanctions committee," Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. Meanwhile, Iran's envoy to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo said that the US and the UK are trying to distract the international community away from "Saudi Arabia's war crimes in Yemen" by drafting such resolutions.

He further went on to dismiss the allegations that his country had been providing weapons to Yemen's Ansarullah movement. The Iranian diplomat also reiterated Tehran's stance on Yemen, stressing that only a political solution and intra-Yemeni dialog can put an end to the country's conflict.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Houthis since March 2015 in an effort to expel them from areas they have seized from the Saudi-backed government, including the capital, Sana. The conflict is widely seen as part of a broader power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which supports the Houthis.