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STORY: UN / USE OF VETO ON IRAN SANCTIONS
TRT: 04:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / CHINESE / NATS
DATELINE: 01 OCTOBER 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters
01 OCTOBER 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Khalilur Rahman, President, General Assembly, United Nations General Assembly, 81st Session:
“The Council’s deliberations revealed significant differences concerning the draft resolution, and it is precisely when positions diverge most sharply, the dialogue and diplomacy become most indispensable. Let us therefore use this debate not to exacerbate tensions or assign blame, but to clarify positions, identify common ground for constructive solutions, and chart a credible path forward to support dialogue and diplomacy, and ultimately restore trust in the organization and its ability to deliver.”
4. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna M. Evstigneeva, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“The US-draft resolution considered by the Security Council on 17 September simply lacks the legal basis and even lacks a subject. The proposal to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts of 1737 reached the absurdity given the fact that both the Panel and the Committee ceased to exist in 2015, and the Council had taken no decisions to resume their work. Therefore, we had no alternative but to vote against this document.”
6. Wide shot, Chinese Ambassador walking to rostrum, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Sun Lei, Deputy Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, People's Republic of China:
“On the issue regarding the use of veto: China always exercises utmost caution, however, as a permanent member of the Security Council, when faced with cardinal questions of right and wrong and matters concerning fairness and justice, China will never compromise on its principles. China has no selfish interests regarding the Iranian nuclear issues. China's position is consistently grounded in upholding multilateralism and the authority of the Council.”
8. Wide shot, Chinese Ambassador at rostrum, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of Delegation to the United Nations, European Union:
“No UN Member State should prevent the UN Security Council from functioning properly and being fully operational. The use of the veto should not impede the effective functioning of Security Council subsidiary bodies or deprive the international community of independent, technical, and fact-based expertise necessary for the implementation of Security Council decisions. This need for a Panel of Experts is even greater today in light of the resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on 9 September requesting the Director General to report Iran’s non-compliance to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.”
10. Wide shot, EU Ambassador at rostrum, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Exactly as Resolution 2231 provided, the previous UN sanctions automatically came back into force. Why? Well, Iran broke the rules. They refuse to abandon their nuclear ambitions; they are enriching uranium to 60 percent which has no credible civilian purpose.”
12. Wide shot, US Ambassador at rostrum, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Gholamhossein Darzi, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Islamic Republic of Iran:
“The repeated claim that Iran’s nuclear programme is being diverted to military objectives is a false narrative and a big lie first concocted by the Israeli regime in 2003 and repeatedly parroted by the United States and certain European countries ever since. No IAEA report has confirmed such a fabricated claim. A repeated lie does not make it true.”
14. Wide shot, Iranian Ambassador at rostrum, delegates
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“Iran must not have a military nuclear program. It must not be giving more time to build one. Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But this responsibility does not rest with Israel alone: The Security Council must strengthen enforcement, restore monitoring, and expose sanction evasion. It must fulfill its peace and security mandate.”
16. Wide shot, Israeli Ambassador at rostrum, delegates
Today (01 Oct), the General Assembly held a meeting on the use of the veto at the 10224th meeting of the Security Council, held on 17 September 2026 in connection with the item entitled “Non-proliferation.”
Khalilur Rahman, President of the UN General Assembly, said, “The Council’s deliberations revealed significant differences concerning the draft resolution, and it is precisely when positions diverge most sharply, the dialogue and diplomacy become most indispensable. Let us therefore use this debate not to exacerbate tensions or assign blame, but to clarify positions, identify common ground for constructive solutions, and chart a credible path forward to support dialogue and diplomacy, and ultimately restore trust in the organization and its ability to deliver.”
Russian Ambassador Anna M. Evstigneeva, said, “The US-draft resolution considered by the Security Council on 17 September simply lacks the legal basis and even lacks a subject. The proposal to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts of 1737 reached the absurdity given the fact that both the Panel and the Committee ceased to exist in 2015, and the Council had taken no decisions to resume their work. Therefore, we had no alternative but to vote against this document.”
Chinese Ambassador Sun Lei said, “On the issue regarding the use of veto: China always exercises utmost caution, however, as a permanent member of the Security Council, when faced with cardinal questions of right and wrong and matters concerning fairness and justice, China will never compromise on its principles. China has no selfish interests regarding the Iranian nuclear issues. China's position is consistently grounded in upholding multilateralism and the authority of the Council.”
Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to the United Nations, spoke on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She said, “No UN Member State should prevent the UN Security Council from functioning properly and being fully operational. The use of the veto should not impede the effective functioning of Security Council subsidiary bodies or deprive the international community of independent, technical, and fact-based expertise necessary for the implementation of Security Council decisions. This need for a Panel of Experts is even greater today in light of the resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on 9 September requesting the Director General to report Iran’s non-compliance to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.”
Mike Waltz, US Permanent Representative said, “Exactly as Resolution 2231 provided, the previous UN sanctions automatically came back into force. Why? Well, Iran broke the rules. They refuse to abandon their nuclear ambitions; they are enriching uranium to 60 percent which has no credible civilian purpose.”
Gholamhossein Darzi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, said, “The repeated claim that Iran’s nuclear programme is being diverted to military objectives is a false narrative and a big lie first concocted by the Israeli regime in 2003 and repeatedly parroted by the United States and certain European countries ever since. No IAEA report has confirmed such a fabricated claim. A repeated lie does not make it true.”
Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, said, “Iran must not have a military nuclear program. It must not be giving more time to build one. Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But this responsibility does not rest with Israel alone: The Security Council must strengthen enforcement, restore monitoring, and expose sanction evasion. It must fulfill its peace and security mandate.”
