Russia on Monday vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution condemning Iran for violating an arms embargo on Yemen through the sale or transfer of short-range ballistic missiles, drones and other military equipment to the Houthis.
The draft, prepared by Britain and backed by France and the US, aimed to renew UN sanctions on Yemen for a year, until February 2019, and would enable the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions for any activity linked to the use of ballistic missiles in the country.
It came in response to a report prepared by a UN panel of experts, which found that missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels at Saudi Arabia last year were made in Iran.
Britain and other states wanted to include in the initial draft text of the resolution a condemnation of Iran for violating an arms embargo on Houthis.
Even following lengthy talks and after postponing the voting session for several hours to try to agree on an amended version of the initial text, the draft resolution received only 11 votes in favor, two against - Russia and Bolivia - while China and Kazakhstan abstained.
Instead, the 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a text proposed by Russia and adopted as Resolution 2402 to simply extend the mandate of the regime for one year and not mention Iran.
The resolution renews sanctions against designated individuals and entities for a year, till February 26, 2019, and extends the mandate of a Panel of Experts, which is tasked with assisting in the implementation of the sanctions regime, until March 28, 2019.
Following the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told reporters during a visit to Honduran capital Tegucigalpa: “If Russia is going to continue to cover for Iran then the US and our partners need to take action on our own. If we’re not going to get action on the council then we have to take our own actions.”
