Russia joined other UN Security Council members on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) to condemn the drone strike on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant, which Abu Dhabi said originated from Iraq where pro-Iranian proxies are active.

The unclaimed drone struck an electrical generator on Sunday (May 17, 2026) near the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant in Barakah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, triggering a fire but causing no injuries nor radiation leak.

“Attacks targeting peaceful nuclear facilities in any country of the world…are categorically unacceptable,” said Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzya.

“Against this backdrop, our country categorically condemns the actions of those who carried out the strike targeting the plant on the territory of the UAE, thereby generating risks of escalation,” he continued without naming any party.

“We trust that all stakeholders will do everything necessary to avoid a recurrence of such a dangerous incident,” he added, noting that the strike likely would not have happened without the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran, Moscow’s long-standing ally.

Abu Dhabi said Tuesday (May 19, 2026) that the drones came from Iraq, where Iran-backed groups have been carrying out attacks against Gulf nations since the West Asia war erupted.

From China to the United States, the other members of the Security Council also condemned the strikes, which have not been claimed by any group.

“What sane nation, either directly or indirectly through proxies, sends drone attacks into an active and ongoing nuclear power plant?” asked U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz, denouncing “outrageous and unacceptable attacks.”

“What is the world left to believe? That if Iran…can’t achieve a nuclear weapon — and it can’t use it as it has threatened over and over again on its neighbors — that it’s now going to find a clever and dangerous way to weaponize a nuclear power plant?

“I struggle to come to any other conclusion,” he said.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Mr. Arsenio Dominguez has called on States to uphold the principle of freedom of navigation and reject any imposition of tolls, fees or discriminatory transit measures for passage through straits used for international navigation.

Addressing the UN Security Council on the topic of ‘The safety and protection of waterways in the maritime domain, he emphasised: “The principle of freedom of navigation is not negotiable. Ships must be allowed to trade worldwide unhindered and in accordance with international law.”

Iran warned the UN Security Council against any “provocative action”, ahead of a scheduled vote on a draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz that ended up being postponed.

“Any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN Security Council regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

Iran-Israel war updates on April 3, 2026

Mr. Araghchi was speaking ahead of a scheduled Security Council vote on a draft resolution mandating a force to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz Friday (April 3, 2026).

It was later announced that the vote was postponed, with no new date scheduled.

The Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane vital to global energy flows, has been all but shut since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.

The 15-member body was set to vote on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain on authorising the use of “defensive” force to protect shipping in Hormuz from Iranian attacks, according to the official programme.

The draft resolution was backed by the U.S. and the Gulf countries hardest hit by the virtual blockade, but member states including Russia, China and France had objected to earlier drafts.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) passed a resolution calling for Iran to immediately halt its attacks on Gulf states, saying they breach international law and pose a “serious threat to international peace and security.”

The resolution, passed by 13 votes with two abstentions, “demands the immediate cessation of all attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.”

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It also “condemns any actions or threats by the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran has struck Gulf states in retaliation to U.S.-Israeli attacks that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Islamic republic has also fired on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea passage for the global fuel trade, in a bid to inflict pain on the global economy.

A delegation of representatives from the 15 member states of the United Nations Security Council visited Syria on Thursday (December 4, 2025) for the first time since the council’s founding in 1945.

The visit comes just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive. It marks the country’s continued reintegration into the international fold under its new government headed by former Islamist insurgent leader and now interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

In brief remarks to journalists in Damascus, Samuel Žbogar, permanent representative of Slovenia to the U.N. and president of the Security Council, said the delegation had come to “build trust,” adding that “I hope that today we made a step forward.”

He said the delegation had met with al-Sharaa, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and other cabinet members. The group also met with local UN staff, Syrian civil society and religious leaders, and communities affected by sectarian violence earlier this year on the coast and in southern Syria’s Sweida province.

They also met with the governors of those regions and representatives of the commission for missing persons and committees formed to investigate the sectarian violence, he said.

Mr. Žbogar said they discussed topics related to justice, reconciliation, inclusivity and national dialogue in the country’s ongoing political transition, as well as economic development, counter-terrorism and the “need for Syria not to be the source of threat to the security of other countries.”

The delegation, he said, reiterated the international community’s support for Syria’s “sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity.”

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said the delegation also visited the heavily war-damaged Damascus suburb of Jobar and historic sites in old Damascus.

It noted that Security Council visits are rare because they require unanimous agreement among the 15 members.

The UN Security Council will vote on Monday (November 17, 2025) on a resolution endorsing U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.

Last week the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Mr. Trump’s plan.

A draft of the resolution seen on Thursday by AFP “welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza — that Mr. Trump would theoretically chair — with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

It would authorise member states to form a “temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF)” that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.

Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state.

The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey called on Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt the resolution.

“The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Türkiye express our joint support for the Security Council Resolution currently under consideration,” the countries said in a joint statement, adding they were seeking the measure’s “swift adoption.”

Friday’s joint statement comes as Russia circulated a competing draft resolution to Council members that does not authorise the creation of a board of peace or the immediate deployment of an international force in Gaza, according to the text seen Friday by AFP.

The Russian version welcomes “the initiative that led to the ceasefire” but does not name Mr. Trump.

It also only calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report that addresses the possibilities of deploying an international stabilization force in war-ravaged Gaza.

The United States has called the ceasefire “fragile,” and warned on Friday of the risks of not adopting its draft.

“Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post.

“Every departure from this path, be it by those who wish to play political games or to relitigate the past, will come with a real human cost.”

While it seemed until now that Council members supported principles of the peace plan, diplomatic sources noted there were questions about the U.S. text, particularly regarding the absence of a monitoring mechanism by the Council, the role of the Palestinian Authority, and details of the ISF’s mandate.

The Russian UN mission said in a statement that its alternative proposal differed by recognizing the principle of a “two-State solution for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.”

“Unfortunately, these provisions were not given due regard in the U.S. draft,” it said.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution Friday (September 19, 2025) on whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as European officials warn Tehran that time is running out to come to a diplomatic resolution ahead of next week’s annual United Nations gathering of world leaders.

The resolution put forth by South Korea, the current president of the 15-member council, would require at least nine votes to halt the sanctions from taking effect at the end of the month as outlined by Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Diplomats have indicated that, despite differing views, there is not enough support to avoid all sanctions against Iran without any conditions.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom moved last month to trigger the “snapback mechanism,” which automatically reimposes all U.N. sanctions that were in effect before the nuclear deal. Those penalties included a conventional arms embargo, restrictions on ballistic missile development, asset freezes, travel bans and a ban on producing nuclear-related technology.

The process is designed to be veto-proof unless the U.N.’s most powerful body agrees to stop it.

Over the last several weeks, intensified diplomacy between Iran and the European countries has taken place, but without a resolution so far and indications that sanctions were likely.

When asked in an interview Thursday on Israel’s Channel 12 whether “snapback” was a done deal, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “Yes, I think so because the latest news we had from the Iranians are not serious.”

German and European Union leaders had warned Iran in a call Wednesday that it had yet to take the necessary action to stop the reimposition of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which is already reeling from a 12-day war and a decades-long financial crisis.

“The window for finding a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear issue is closing really fast,” the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement. “Iran must show credible steps towards addressing the demands of France, U.K. and Germany, and this means demonstrating full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and allowing inspections of all nuclear sites without delay.”

In a statement issued hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi again asserted that the reimposition of U.N. sanctions was “lacking any legal or logical justification.”

He also pointed to the fact that Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog earlier reached a deal mediated by Egypt to grant the IAEA access to all Iranian nuclear sites and for Tehran to report on the whereabouts of all its nuclear material.

Details of the agreement were not immediately released. In an address last week to his agency’s board of governors in Vienna, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi said the document “provides for a clear understanding for the procedures of inspection notifications and their implementation.”

The agreement “includes all facilities and installations in Iran and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities including the nuclear material present at those,” Grossi added, noting it will “open the way for the respective inspections and access” without specifying when that would happen.

A 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June saw both the Israelis and the Americans bomb Iranian nuclear sites, throwing into question the status of Tehran’s stockpile of uranium enriched nearly to weapons-grade levels.

Using the “snapback” mechanism will likely heighten tensions between Iran and the West. It’s unclear how Iran will respond, given that in the past, officials have threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.

The United States once again vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday (September 18, 2025) that had demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages after saying that the effort did not go far enough in condemning Hamas.

All 14 other members of the United Nations’ most powerful body voted in favour of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory. The outcome further highlights U.S. and Israeli isolation on the world stage regarding the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Also read: Israel-Gaza war: Mass displacement, hunger, and death toll

The vote came just days ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, where Gaza will be a major topic and where major U.S. allies are expected to recognise an independent Palestinian state.

It is a largely symbolic move that is vehemently opposed by Israel and the U.S., dividing the Trump administration from close allies, including the U.K. and France.

The resolution, drafted by the council’s 10 elected members who serve two-year terms, goes further than previous drafts to highlight what it calls the “deepening of suffering” of Palestinian civilians.

It also reiterates demands from previous resolutions, including for the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups following their October 7, 2023, surprise attack in southern Israel that launched the war in Gaza.

Watch: How Israel’s escalating strikes on Gaza threaten regional stability

In opposing similar resolutions since November, the U.S. has complained that the demands, including a ceasefire, were not directly linked to the unconditional release of hostages and would only embolden Hamas militants.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., blasted the new resolution, saying that it would “not release the hostages and will not bring security to the region”.

“Israel will continue to fight Hamas and protect its citizens, even if the Security Council prefers to turn a blind eye to terrorism,” he said in a statement Thursday (September 18, 2025).

The resolution also expressed “deep alarm” after a report released last month by the world’s leading authority on food crises said Gaza City has become gripped by famine and that it’s likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Israeli forces have pressed on with a new ground offensive in Gaza City. The latest Israeli operation, which started Tuesday, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire further out of reach.

The Israeli military, which says it wants to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure”, hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.

That same day, a team of independent experts commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, issuing a report that called on the international community to end it and take steps to punish those responsible for it.

Last week, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state.

Expectations for a U.S. veto of the resolution Thursday comes as about half of Americans say the Israeli military response in the Gaza Strip has “gone too far”, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. That’s up from November 2023, when 40% said Israel’s military action had gone too far.

But at the same time, Americans overall, particularly Republicans, are less likely to say that negotiating a ceasefire should be a high priority for the U.S. government than they were just a few months ago when the U.S. was holding ceasefire talks with Hamas.