Iran recovers voting rights in UN General Assembly

After paying the minimum amount required to get off the suspension list, Iran regained voting rights in the United Nations General Assembly last Friday.

The country lost its right to vote in the General Assembly in January because it owed more than US$65m in UN dues over the past two years.

Members of Iran’s Foreign Ministry submitted a proposal to the United Nations to use frozen funds from oil revenues in South Korean banks to pay off their arrears. According to Reuters, the United Nations requested permission from the US Treasury to follow up on Iran’s request afterwards.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said: “The permit was recently issued, and the process of withdrawing membership fees from Iran’s account in Korean banks has been prepared and transferred to the United Nations account in Seoul, and we will pay this debt soon.”

Following the 2018 sanctions issued by former US President Donald Trump, US$20bn in Iranian oil revenue was frozen in nations such as South Korea, China, and Iraq.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, wrote on Twitter on Friday: “The illegal US sanctions have not only deprived our people of medicine but also prevented Iran from paying our arrears to the UN. Finally, after more than six months of working on it, the UN announced today it had received the money.”