The UN Security Council on March 11 passed a draft resolution on the Iran situation with 13 votes in favor and 2 abstentions, "strongly condemning Iran's attacks on its neighboring countries." The countries that cast abstention votes were China and Russia.

The draft resolution was drafted by Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Jordan. Since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, the situation in the Gulf region has escalated sharply, with several countries including Bahrain claiming to have suffered retaliatory attacks from Iran.

In his speech after the vote, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, pointed out that the fundamental way to prevent the situation from worsening is for the US and Israel to stop their military actions, while also fully respecting the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of the Gulf Arab states. "We do not agree with Iran's attacks on the Gulf Arab states."

"Has China and Russia betrayed Iran?" On the 12th, Mehro news agency, which has considerable influence within Iran, published an article discussing the legal nature and actual impact of this resolution as well as the reasons behind China and Russia's abstention votes.

The article said that according to international law principles and the UN Charter, the resolution lacks actual binding force and cannot be enforced. From the framework of political maneuvering, the resolution is actually "an effort by the Gulf Arab states to salvage their image in international public opinion."

The article emphasized that China and Russia's abstention "cannot be interpreted as a change in strategic position or betrayal of Iran's national interests," and needs to be analyzed from two aspects.

First, since the resolution is non-binding, the priority for China and Russia to use veto power is not high. The article stated, "these two countries usually show stronger strategic sensitivity when it comes to binding resolutions—those that may lead to sanctions or military intervention."

Second, looking at past votes on draft resolutions in the Security Council, China and Russia have always supported Iran on key issues or major matters concerning Iran.

The article concluded that the resolution will not affect the war, does not involve sanctions, and will not change China and Russia's comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran. "The abstention votes of China and Russia should be regarded as a diplomatic consideration, rather than a so-called 'backstabbing'."

According to Ambassador Fu Cong, China "highly values" this draft resolution on the Iran situation and "has participated constructively in the consultations."

When talking about China's voting position, Fu Cong expressed regret: "The draft resolution failed to comprehensively and balancedly reflect the root causes and overall picture of the conflict. The reasonable suggestions proposed by China were not fully adopted, so China had no choice but to cast an abstention vote."

Russian Permanent Representative Nebinja said that the resolution proposed by Bahrain has a clear unilateralist nature and is an unconstructive document.

On the same day, another Russian-drafted resolution on the Middle East situation failed to pass. Fu Cong pointed out that the content of the Russian draft was "principled and balanced," and China welcomed and supported it, expressing disappointment and regret over its failure to pass.

This article is an exclusive article by Observer News, and it cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7616358473218933275/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.