The Islamic Republic of Iran and seven other countries have lost their voting rights at the United Nations due to prolonged delays in paying their debts. The volume of Iran’s debts to the United Nations amounts to approximately 18 million dollars.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, announced in a letter to the General Assembly released on Wednesday, January 12 (December 22), that the Islamic Republic of Iran and several other countries have lost their voting rights at the United Nations because they have failed to pay their debts for an extended period.
According to him, a total of 11 countries are in arrears on their payments, of which eight countries, including Iran, have currently lost their voting rights.
The seven other countries are Venezuela, Sudan, Somalia, Antigua and Barbuda, Congo, Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Comoros, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The Islamic Republic of Iran must pay 16.1 million euros (equivalent to 18 million dollars) to settle its debts in order to restore its voting rights. Venezuela’s debt amounts to 34.8 million euros. Sudan’s debt is reported at only around 260,000 euros.
Other mentioned countries must pay less than 65,000 dollars to the United Nations to restore their voting rights.
According to the UN Charter, if the arrears of a member state exceed the sum of its membership dues for two years, that country’s voting rights are suspended.
A Recurring Matter
In June of last year, Iran’s voting rights were also suspended due to non-payment of debts.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic at that time, wrote a protest letter to Guterres, attributed the non-payment of Iran’s debts to “American sanctions,” and described the suspension of Iran’s voting rights at the United Nations as “incorrect and illogical.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran ultimately managed to restore its voting rights by paying part of these debts; a right that has now been suspended once again.
The United Nations budget for the current year, which was approved in December 2021, exceeds 2.6 billion euros.
A separate budget for carrying out peace-keeping missions must be added to this amount. This section of the budget, which amounts to 5.7 billion euros, was approved in June of last year.
