Iran regains UN voting rights

Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, confirmed on Sunday that Iran has earned back its voting rights after its membership fees were paid. 

The suspended voting rights should be back in place on Monday. The $18 million that was paid for by South Korea with Iranian assets, frozen due to US sanctions. There is currently over $7 billion in Iranian oil shipment payments frozen in two South Korean banks, according to AFP.

Seoul’s finance ministry also announced the payment had been in a Sunday statement following Tehran requesting last week that the frozen funds be used to cover the membership costs. 

Iran’s voting rights had been suspended earlier this month, along with multiple other countries, over unpaid membership dues. Iran has cited US sanctions as making it difficult to keep up with UN payments, even having their voting rights suspended last year. Iran has said the money in South Korea is being held “hostage,” while Seoul would not confirm how much of the $7 billion remains after this week’s UN payment.

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