Iran and Venezuela lose voting rights at the UN

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The UN headquarters in New York

Photo: CARLO ALLEGRI / REUTERS

Iran, Venezuela and a number of other countries have temporarily lost their voting rights in the UN General Assembly due to payment arrears.

In a letter published on Wednesday, General Secretary António Guterres stated that Iran would have to pay the equivalent of at least 16.1 million euros and Venezuela 34.8 million euros in order to be able to participate in the largest UN body again.

In addition to Iran and Venezuela, Sudan, Antigua and Barbuda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea have no voting rights.

According to the UN Charter, membership is suspended if a country is in arrears with two annual payments.

The general assembly can decide on exceptions.

Fate could happen to other countries this year: Somalia, the Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The General Assembly in New York is the central advisory body of the United Nations.

This is where the countries of the world come together to debate global political issues.

However, unlike those of the UN Security Council, resolutions and decisions of the Assembly are not binding on the individual UN member states under international law.

Germany and other states have long been calling for a reform of the UN Security Council, in which only five countries - the USA, Russia, China, France and Great Britain - have a permanent seat and the associated right of veto.

Other countries may sit as non-permanent members on a rotation basis.

In a speech to the General Assembly in September last year, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier questioned the primacy of some great powers in the Security Council.

Germany is convinced that big, open questions about humanity can only be answered through "far more cooperation".

mrc / dpa