Iran regained its voting rights in the U.N. General Assembly on Friday after making the minimum payment on its U.N. dues and lashed out at the United States for maintaining sanctions that have prevented it from accessing billions of dollars in foreign banks.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq announced that Iran had paid the minimum amount of $16,251,298 and was able to vote in Friday’s election for five new members of the U.N. Security Council.
He thanked banking and government authorities in various places, including South Korea, for enabling the payment to be made.
In a tweet, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said Illegal US sanctions have not just deprived our people of medicine; they have also prevented Iran from paying our dues in arrears to the UN.
Iran lost its voting rights in January and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter circulated June 2 that Tehran had still not paid the minimum and would continue being unable to vote, along with Central African Republic.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six major powers in 2018.
Trump not only put nuclear sanctions back, but also added layers of terrorism and other sanctions on many of the same entities. In addition, the Trump administration imposed an array of new sanctions on previously unsanctioned entities.
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