Debt to the UN, eight states lose vote rights

Eight countries, including Iran, Sudan and Venezuela, have lost the right to vote in the UN due to excessive debt to the organisation, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said today.

A total of 11 member states are currently late in paying contributions in line with Article 19 of the UN Charter, Guterres said in a letter to members of the General Assembly, forwarded AFP.

Article 19 envisions suspending the right to vote at the General Assembly for each country, whose back obligations are equal or larger than the contributions it has paid in the past two years.

If the payment did not take place “due to circumstances out of control”, the state could still retain its right to vote, which is the case this year for three countries -- the Sano Tome and Principe and Somalia”, Guterres said.

In addition to Iran, Sudan, and Venezuela, five other countries lost their rights -- antigua and Barbuda, Congo, Guinea, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

In order for these countries to regain voting rights, it is necessary to pay at least one minimum sum that is not the same for all countries. Iran must pay more than $18m, Sudan about $300,000 and Venezuela nearly $40m.

Iran lost its vote last year due to debt. Iranian authorities later declared they could not pay the sum due to sanctions imposed on it by the United States.

After several months of negotiations, Iran was granted an exception that allowed it to pay off the minimum required debt and regain its voting rights in June, just before the election of new UN Security Council members.

The UN's annual operational budget, adopted in December, is about $3 billion. The peacekeeping budget, adopted in June, is about $6.5 billion.