Latest news with #UNSecurityCouncil
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Yemen Urges End to UN Mission Overseeing Hodeidah Agreement
Yemen's internationally recognized government has called for the termination of the United Nations mission tasked with overseeing the 2018 Hodeidah Agreement, just days ahead of a UN Security Council vote on whether to extend its mandate for another six months. The government accused the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) of legitimizing Houthi control over Red Sea ports and failing to prevent the group from exploiting the area militarily and politically. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said in a statement that UNMHA has 'become a burden and an enabler of Houthi dominance,' offering political cover for their military presence and 'blackmail' tactics. UNMHA was established under Security Council Resolution 2452 in January 2019 to monitor the Stockholm Agreement, which included a ceasefire in the strategic port city of Hodeidah and a mutual redeployment of forces from the city and its three ports—Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa. Six years on, Eryani said, the mission has failed to deliver any tangible results. 'Not militarily, not economically, not even humanitarian-wise,' he said. 'The developments on the ground have outpaced the mission.' He called on the Security Council to end what he described as 'international mismanagement' that undermines Yemen's sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore state institutions. Accusations of Bias and Inaction Eryani accused the UN mission of failing to uphold the core tenets of the Stockholm Agreement. While government forces redeployed as required, he said, the Houthis refused to comply and instead reinforced their military positions, smuggled in weapons and fighters, and continued rocket launches from within the city. Despite these violations, the minister said, UNMHA 'remained silent.' He also criticized the mission for becoming a 'political shield' for the Houthis, enabling the group to consolidate military and economic control across western Yemen. Eryani claimed that since late 2018, UNMHA has failed to monitor or verify redeployment, enforce the ceasefire, or reduce the visible armed presence in Hodeidah. Hostage to Houthi Restrictions In 2022, the Yemeni government formally requested that the UN relocate the mission's headquarters to a neutral location, citing increasing Houthi restrictions. Eryani said the Redeployment Coordination Committee - set up under the agreement -has not convened since 2020, and that the Houthis continue to occupy UNMHA offices and housing facilities, turning the mission staff into 'hostages to the group's pressure and extortion.' The minister also criticized the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), saying it failed to prevent weapons smuggling through the ports or to reopen roads between Hodeidah's districts. He added that the Houthis have not transferred port revenues to the central bank for civil servant salaries as stipulated in the Stockholm Agreement. 'War Machine Financed Under UN Watch' Eryani accused the Houthis of using the ports to finance their war machine. Citing government estimates, he said the group collected more than $789 million in port revenues between May 2023 and June 2024 - none of which was used to pay salaries or improve public services. Instead, he claimed, the funds were directed toward military efforts and buying loyalty, exacerbating the suffering of local populations. He also charged that the UN mission ignored repeated Houthi violations, including missile tests from the ports and attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. 'The Houthis have turned Hodeidah into a safe haven for Iranian and Hezbollah experts, a hub for assembling drones and missiles, and a corridor for arms smuggling -all under the nose of the United Nations,' Eryani said. US Signals Support for Ending Mission In a recent Security Council session, the United States implicitly endorsed Yemen's position. Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea described the UN mission as 'paralyzed' and said it no longer reflects the situation on the ground. According to the Council's agenda, members will vote on Monday at 10 a.m. New York time on a draft resolution to extend UNMHA's mandate until January 28, 2026. Eryani urged the international community to take 'a firmer stance' and shut down the mission, arguing that it now poses an obstacle to peace efforts and prolongs the humanitarian crisis. 'The Yemenis are not the only ones paying the price for the mission's failure,' he said. 'So is the region - and the world.'
Axios
2 hours ago
- Business
- Axios
Iran faces stiff sanctions if no deal by end of August, U.S. and allies agree
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. agreed in a phone call on Monday to set the end of August as the de facto deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, according to three sources with knowledge of the call. Why it matters: If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the "snapback" mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal. Zoom in: The snapback provision — included in the deal to allow the signatories to respond to Iranian violations — will expire in October. The process of activating "snapback" takes 30 days, and the Europeans want to conclude the process before Russia assumes the UN Security Council presidency in October. U.S. and European officials view snapback as both a negotiating tool to pressure Tehran and a fallback if diplomacy fails. But the Iranians argue there is no legal basis to reimpose the sanctions, and have threatened to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in response. Driving the news: The call between Rubio and his European counterparts was aimed at coordinating positions on "snapback" and the path forward on nuclear diplomacy with Iran, the sources said. The intrigue: According to two of the sources, the Europeans now plan to engage with Iran in the coming days and weeks with the message that Iran can avoid the snapback sanctions if it takes steps to reassure the world about its nuclear program. Such steps could include resuming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring, which Iran suspended after the U.S. and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities. One source said another such step could be the removal from Iran of the roughly 400kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity that's contained in those sites. Behind the scenes: Since the end of the war between Israel and Iran, the Trump administration has been trying to resume negotiations on a new nuclear deal. Some officials in France, Germany, the U.K. and Israel were concerned the Trump administration would press the European powers not to trigger the snapback sanctions so as not to harm potential negotiations. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House last week he raised the issue with President Trump, Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, two Israeli officials said. Netanyahu asked Trump not to block snapback and told Witkoff that the U.S. should make it clear to the Iranians that they don't have much time if they want to get a deal and avoid the reimposing of UN sanctions. "We felt that Trump and his team agreed with us," an Israeli official said. What they are saying: A senior U.S. official said the Trump administration supports activating snapback and sees it as leverage in the talks with Iran.
New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
SCO must take 'uncompromising' position on combating terrorism: EAM Jaishankar
In his address, Jaishankar also flagged concerns over "conflicts, competition and coercion" as well as economic instability and underlined the need to stabilise the global order and address longstanding challenges that "threaten our collective interests". The major focus of the external affairs minister's address was his call to effectively deal with terrorism. Jaishankar said the UN Security Council condemned the attack and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of the reprehensible act and bring them to justice. The external affairs minister said India has done "exactly that" and it will continue doing so. "The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism. Not surprisingly, they often occur together. Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22," Jaishankar said. "The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms and 'underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice'," he said. "We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so. It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge," he said. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10. The external affairs minister also listed India's initiatives in the SCO in various domains ranging from startup and innovation to traditional medicine and digital public infrastructure. "We will continue to positively approach new ideas and proposals that are genuinely for our collective good," he said. "It is essential that such cooperation is based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and in accordance with territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states," he asserted. Delving into the current geopolitical situation, Jaishankar called for concerted efforts to deal with the challenges. "We meet at a time of considerable disorder in the international system. In the last few years, we have seen more conflicts, competition and coercion," he said. "Economic instability is also visibly on the rise. The challenge before us is to stabilize the global order, de-risk various dimensions and through it all, address longstanding challenges that threaten our collective interests," he added.
The Print
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
Fight terror, separatism, extremism—Jaishankar's message at SCO meet, as Pakistan minister looks on
The Indian External Affairs Minister added: 'The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so.' 'The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism. Not surprisingly, they often occur together. Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide,' Jaishankar said in his remarks during the meeting. New Delhi: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) must be 'uncompromising' in its fight against 'terrorism, separatism and extremism'. That was External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's message at the foreign ministers' conference in Tianjin Tuesday, delivered in the presence of Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to China from 14 July till 15 July. He held a number of bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders Monday during his visit to Beijing. He also called on Chinese President Xi Jinping. Tuesday was the meeting of the foreign ministers in Tianjin, which is set to host the Heads of State summit later this year. This is the first visit by the Indian External Affairs Minister to China since the clashes in Galwan in the summer of 2020. Ties between India and China cratered following the clashes. The political thaw in ties was initiated following the announcement of an agreement to disengage at the friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) last October. 'We will continue to positively approach new ideas and proposals that are genuinely for our collective good. It is essential that such cooperation is based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and in accordance with territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states,' said Jaishankar in his message to the organisation. He is the third Indian leader to visit China in the last month as a part of the different meetings under the SCO umbrella, before the leaders summit later this year. It is one of the few forums where both India and Pakistan interact. Jaishankar's message on terrorism and territorial integrity came a couple of months after the 87-hour conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025. On 22 April, terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam killed 26 people. India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Islamabad further escalated the situation hitting Indian military infrastructure, which led to the short conflict between the two neighbours. Last month, the defence ministers' meeting of the SCO was unable to reach a consensus for a joint statement because they couldn't agree on the language on terrorism. Pakistan had objected to references regarding the Pahalgam terrorist attack, which led to no joint statement being issued. Also read: China offers 'constructive' help in settling India-Pakistan disputes, defends 'friendship' with Islamabad Afghanistan & economic engagement Jaishankar called on the members of the SCO to 'step up' development assistance to Afghanistan, promising that India will do so as well. The Taliban regime has been in control of Afghanistan since 2021. Russia, also a member of the SCO, recently moved to recognise the Taliban-led government in Kabul. 'Afghanistan has been long on the SCO agenda. The compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by our longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people. The international community, particularly SCO members, must therefore step up with development assistance. India, for its part, will certainly do so,' Jaishankar said. With regards to deepening economic collaboration between members of the SCO, Jaishankar pushed for the promotion of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a transport corridor that links Russia to India via Central Asia. The INSTC is different from China's own Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is President Xi's landmark infrastructure initiative. Jaishankar's promotion of the INSTC, which was envisioned in 2000, marks New Delhi's attempt to suggest an alternative to the BRI. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Why do we pretend SCO still works? China runs it, shields Pakistan, sidelines India
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Pahalgam was ‘deliberate' to sow religious divide: Jaishankar urges China to take firm stand on terrorism
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to remain committed to its founding goals of combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism, calling for an 'uncompromising' stance on such threats. Speaking at the SCO foreign ministers' meeting in Tianjin, with his Chinese and Pakistani counterparts present, Jaishankar strongly justified India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. 'The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism. Not surprisingly, they often occur together. Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22,' he said. Jaishankar, who is making his first visit to China since the Galwan Valley clashes of June 2020, added, 'The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms and 'underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice'.' 'We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so,' he asserted. The External Affairs Minister said the attack was 'deliberately conducted to undermine' the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir and sow a religious divide. Without naming China directly, Jaishankar also made a veiled reference to Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), stressing that cooperation must respect territorial integrity and sovereignty. 'It is essential that such cooperation is based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and in accordance with territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states,' he said. Jaishankar noted that the world today was grappling with 'more conflicts, competition and coercion,' and called for stabilising the global order. 'The challenge before us is to stabilise the global order, de-risk various dimensions and through it all, address longstanding challenges that threaten our collective interests,' he said. (With inputs from PTI)
