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8190th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
The Security Council today unanimously decided to renew a travel ban, assets freeze and arms embargo against those threatening peace and security in Yemen, rejecting an alternate draft, vetoed by the Russian Federation, that would have spotlighted specific non‑compliance by Iran identified by the expert panel mandated to monitor those measures.
By the terms of resolution 2402 (2018), the Council renewed until 26 February 2019 the travel ban and assets freeze first imposed in resolution 2140 (2014). It also reaffirmed the arms embargo — as laid out in resolution 2216 (2015) — against several individuals, including former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, designated by the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014), also known as the “2140 Committee”. It extended until 28 March 2019 the Panel of Experts’ mandate.
The text, submitted by the Russian Federation, prevailed over another tabled by the United Kingdom, which was defeated by a vote of 11 in favour to 2 against (Bolivia, Russian Federation) with 2 abstentions (China, Kazakhstan).
That draft would have reaffirmed the applicability of sanctions to activities related to ballistic missile use in Yemen, the provision or transfer of related goods or technologies to listed persons or entities, and the provision of financial, material or technological support to those persons and entities.
It also would have called on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law; cease attacks directed at civilians and civilian objects; take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects; respect and protect medical facilities and personnel; and end the recruitment and use of children.
The United Kingdom’s delegate, prior to the two votes, said attacks against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia were unacceptable and raised concern over the Panel’s findings that Iran had provided short‑range missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, in breach of paragraph 14 of resolution 2216 (2015). Urging the Council to stand firm against such violations, he said that while the United Kingdom had sought to ensure a balanced and impartial text, it also had not shied away from calling out those who had violated international agreements.
The Russian Federation’s representative, also speaking before the votes, said he could not support the United Kingdom‑sponsored draft, as he did not agree with its inclusion of unverified information. Assessing the Panel of Experts’ work in the manner mentioned in that draft was misguided. That text would be detrimental to the Council and destabilizing to both Yemen and the region. There was a grave danger in toying with geopolitical maps, he warned, especially with regard to relations between the Shiite and the Sunni communities. Instead, the resolution should be technical in nature, and as such, the Russian Federation had presented an alternate text.
The representative of the United States, calling the Russian Federation’s statement “perverse”, said the Panel had presented evidence of Iran’s involvement, its arms embargo violations and its failure to prevent the transfer of banned arms to Houthi rebels. Those weapons were being used to target the capitals of Yemen’s neighbours; the United Kingdom’s draft had provided a common sense solution. Today, preventive diplomacy had failed and the principles of the United Nations Charter had been violated. Iran was entrenching itself in other nations and making the world a more dangerous place, she said, adding that “we will not stop until Tehran is stopped.”
Bolivia’s delegate said he had voted against the United Kingdom‑sponsored draft because it had not taken into account the concerns of several delegations. Bolivia would not apologize to anyone for standing up for its principles, including that of the sovereignty of States. It was irresponsible to call out other regional actors without evidence, he said, warning the Council against pursuing narrow political agendas in breach of the United Nations Charter.
Also speaking were representatives of France, China, Peru, Sweden, Netherlands and Kuwait.
The meeting began at 3:26 p.m. and ended at 4:10 p.m.
