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The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s attacks against states in the Gulf as well as Jordan.
The resolution, which was presented by Bahrain and co-sponsored by 135 countries, was passed on Wednesday with 13 votes in favour. No country voted against the resolution, but Russia and China abstained.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, explained that his country abstained from the vote on the draft resolution “because it was extremely unbalanced” and would not fulfil the purpose “of meeting international peace and security”.
China’s ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, while addressing the council, said the war had “neither legitimacy nor legal basis”.
Al Jazeera journalist Gabriel Elizondo, who reported from the UN headquarters in New York, described it as overwhelming.
“Both China and Russia abstained but notably decided not to use their veto power to block this resolution, probably because it got a lot of support, not only in the Security Council but with other member states – 135 other countries cosponsored this resolution that has now been adopted,” said Elizondo.
“We believe that this is the largest number of countries ever to cosponsor a Security Council draft resolution.”
Iran, following the coordinated joint strikes launched against it by Israel and the United States on February 28, launched drone and missile attacks targeting U.S. military bases, ports, and airports in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.
Many reports have described the attacks as retaliatory, but Iran disagrees with the label. Iran has insisted that its missile and drone attacks on Gulf states are not aimed at those countries themselves but at U.S. military assets and infrastructure located there, arguing that nations hosting American forces have become part of the battle.
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani expressed regret at the outcome of the resolution after it was adopted.
“This is a deeply regrettable day for the Security Council and for the international community. Today’s adoption is a serious setback to the Council’s credibility and leaves a lasting stain on its record,” said Irvani.
“This resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression. It distorts the realities on the ground and deliberately ignores the root causes of the current crisis,” Iravani said, accusing the US and Israel of being behind the resolution.
China also presented a draft resolution calling on all conflicting parties to halt military action in the Middle East, but the UNSC failed to adopt it.
