What the 14 August 2020 Iran arms embargo vote revealed
A Security Council vote on extending the Iran arms embargo left the United States with a single supporter among the 15 members.
What did it mean when the United States could find only one ally on the UN Security Council? On 14 August 2020, the Council voted on a US resolution to extend indefinitely the global arms embargo on Iran, and the result was a resounding rejection.
The arithmetic was stark. Adoption required at least nine votes in favour. Washington received one, from the Dominican Republic. Eleven of the 15 members abstained, among them France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Russia and China opposed extending the ban, though the outcome meant neither needed to use its veto.
Reading the numbers
The abstentions are the most telling part. Three of the countries that did not back the resolution were European states, so the failure was not confined to Moscow and Beijing. Because the resolution fell far short of nine votes, the vetoes that Russia and China held in reserve never came into play.
The vote also belongs to a long record of international pressure on Iran. Sanctions have been imposed by the United Nations and, separately, by the United States, the European Union and many other countries, in response to Iran's nuclear programme, alleged support for terrorism, human rights violations and its military conduct in the Persian Gulf.
The 14 August 2020 vote showed that the unilateral and multilateral tracks of that pressure did not always coincide. Washington could press its case in the Council, but it could not carry the body with it.
