Leader's Top Aide Lauds Russia's Veto of Anti-Iran Resolution, Blasts Britain

Rasa - Iranian Supreme Leader's top aide for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati hailed Moscow for vetoing the UN Security Council resolution alleging that Tehran has supplied missiles to Yemen, lambasting Britain for sponsoring the resolution.

News ID: 436661

Date: 02 March 2018 - 03:00

RNA - "Russia's measure to veto this resolution was a sign of growing and strategic relations between the two sides," Velayati told reporters on Wednesday.

He also slammed Britain's anti-Iranian measures and London's role in drafting the resolution against the Islamic Republic at the UN Security Council.

In relevant remarks on Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said that Russia's vote against the UN draft resolution represented another setback for the US.

The draft resolution gained 11 favorable votes at the 15-member Security Council, but was blocked by Russia's veto. China and Kazakhstan abstained, while Bolivia also voted against the measure.

A group of so-called independent United Nations experts monitoring the sanctions on Yemen reported to the Security Council in January that it had “identified missile remnants, related military equipment and military unmanned aerial vehicles that are of Iranian origin and were brought into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo.”

According to Fars News Agancy, the Security Council instead adopted unanimously a Russian-written resolution that called for a one-year extension of sanctions against Yemen and a renewal of the work of the panel of experts.

At least 15,700 people have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen in 2015. Much of the country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The Saudi-led war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic across Yemen.

According to the World Health Organization’s latest tally, the cholera outbreak has killed 2,167 people since the end of April 2017 and is suspected to have infected 841,906.

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