UN Security Council fails to adopt resolution on continued Iran sanctions relief

The Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on Friday that would have continued to provide sanctions relief for Iran under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The draft resolution, put forward by the Republic of Korea in its capacity as Security Council president for September, received four votes in favor, nine votes against, and two abstentions, falling short of the nine positive votes required for adoption.

If adopted, the draft resolution would have prevented a "snapback" of UN sanctions against Iran, a mechanism contained in the Iran nuclear deal and Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Britain, France and Germany -- the three European countries of the JCPOA, known as the E3 -- claimed they triggered the snapback mechanism on August 28 by notifying the Security Council of Tehran's "non-performance."

Under Resolution 2231, the UN sanctions in place before the adoption of Resolution 2231 would resume 30 days after the notification, unless the Security Council adopts a resolution to decide otherwise.

However, the legality of the E3 move has been questioned as it has skipped the Dispute Resolution Mechanism (DRM) provided for in the JCPOA and Resolution 2231.

Under the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, the DRM has 35 days to resolve the disagreement. A snapback can be triggered only after the DRM fails to resolve the issue.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong said in an explanatory statement that China opposes certain countries pushing the UN Security Council to trigger the snapback mechanism, stressing that such a move is not only unfair and unreasonable, but would also seriously undermine political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, aggravate tensions and divisions, and even lead to unpredictable catastrophic consequences.

"The root cause of the current deadlock on the Iranian nuclear issue is the unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the JCPOA, its obstruction of the JCPOA's normal implementation, its restoration and constant escalation of unilateral sanctions against Iran, its adoption of 'maximum pressure' measures which deprived Iran of the economic dividends promised by the agreement, and forced Iran to reduce the fulfillment of its commitments. The U.S. also disregarded its own credibility, recklessly launched a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and sabotaged the negotiation process it had itself initiated," said Fu.

Fu stressed that a political and diplomatic settlement is the only effective way forward and represents the broad consensus of the international community.

To this end, he put forward four proposition - First, attach importance to Iran's active efforts and stop sanctions and pressure; second, uphold dialogue and negotiation while abandoning threats of force; third, focus on political settlement, create favorable conditions and advance new agreement talks; and fourth, adhere to objectivity and fairness while balancing non-proliferation with the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"All parties should fully respect Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. On the basis of mutual respect and equal dialogue, efforts should be made to find the broadest common ground that accommodates the legitimate concerns of all parties and reach a solution that meets the expectations of the international community, to place Iran's nuclear activities entirely under the safeguards and supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," said Fu.

He stressed that China is committed to its constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue and maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East.

UN Security Council fails to adopt resolution on continued Iran sanctions relief

UN Security Council fails to adopt resolution on continued Iran sanctions relief

UN Security Council fails to adopt resolution on continued Iran sanctions relief

China's expanding ties with the Global South have pushed trade growth far beyond the global average despite the tariff pressure from the U.S., according to experts.

"Whilst the Trump tariffs ultimately led to a significant drop-off in Chinese exports to the United States and vice versa, the trading relationships across much of the rest of the world continue to grow, and China's trading relationships across the Belt and Road Initiative countries, as well as with the Global South, more broadly speaking, has grown at rates far greater than global trade growth as a whole. And we see that evidenced by the latest data. When we break that down, we see that has been underpinned by the developments in high-technology products in particular, whether it's EVs, whether it's even in semiconductors, as well as photovoltaic panels, etc.," said Dr. Warwick Powell, an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, in a TV interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday.

"And you've got to look at the places where the growth is taking place. Africa, I think, is a very interesting case in point, because the kinds of things that China has been exporting and expanding in terms of its exports are all about African economic development -- its machinery, its energy systems, its technology, and this really goes to delivering on China's broader strategic ambition as an emerging great power to be an enabling great power, supporting the development of its partners around the world," he added.

Qian Jun, executive dean of International School of Finance at Fudan University, attributed the trade growth to Chinese firms' endeavor to tap into key regions like ASEAN, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

"The main increase of export comes from, as we have discussed, these new areas: The ASEAN economy -- southeast Asia remains the most important trading partner -- and also Latin America, the Middle East, and these [other such] new regions. So, the exporters of the Chinese companies are also very good at adjusting their destinies, their strategies, how to market their goods and services, so that the reliance on the U.S., for example, has gone down a lot," Qian said.

China's trade momentum increasingly powered by Global South: experts