Russia, China object to US UNSC Presidency’s Programme of Work over Iran
The United States, a permanent member with veto power, took over the presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council in March. Customarily, a monthly work program outlining the Council’s expected meetings and activities for that month is adopted by the UN body at the beginning of the Presidency.
The President of the Council then briefs the media at UN headquarters on the UN Security Council’s work program and agenda for the month.
However, the work program prepared by the United States for the monthly Council presidency could not be accepted on Monday after the objections of Russia and China, other permanent members with veto power, to the 1737 Sanctions Committee on Iran.
Russia’s Permanent Mission to the UN said: “Russia and China objected to the adoption of the UN Security Council PoW (Program of Work) prepared by the United States for March.”
“We had to take this step because the interim work program proposed by the United States included a briefing on the work of the 1737 Sanctions Committee on Iran, whose work was allegedly resumed in September 2025 after Britain, France and Germany triggered the ‘rollback’ mechanism to reintroduce anti-Iran Security Council resolutions,” Russia said. he said.
The statement said, “In February, we once again brought our stance on this issue to the attention of our US colleagues and called on them to avoid including such an event in the temporary work program. Unfortunately, our call was not taken into account. For this very reason, we had no choice but to object to the adoption of the UNSC’s March work program.” program. In August 2020, the United States activated the resolution’s “rollback” mechanism, through which the Security Council can reimpose UN sanctions.
Last year, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (known collectively as the “E3”) activated the withdrawal mechanism, which resulted in the reimposition of sanctions on Iran on September 27, 2025, based on “Iran’s ongoing “significant failure” to meet its nuclear commitments.”
Following the failure to adopt the Monthly Work Program, the United States published the “Work Plan” outlining the Council’s expected meetings and activities for the month.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz’s press conference, originally scheduled for March 3 to brief members of the media about the Work Programme, was also cancelled.
Council Presidents traditionally host approximately two signature events during their presidency. The first signature event of the United States was the briefing titled “Children, Technology and Education in Conflict” under the agenda item “Maintaining international peace and security” on March 2, chaired by First Lady Melania Trump.
The second signature event expected to be hosted by the USA will be a briefing on ‘Energy, critical minerals and security’.
The United States took over the gavel of the UNSC just a day after it and Israel launched a military attack on Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders. Tehran has launched retaliatory strikes against American and Israeli targets in West Asia, which is now embroiled in a devastating war affecting millions of civilians.
