UN voting record · Middle East
How Iran votes at the UN
Iran votes with the developing-country blocs it belongs to and closely with China and Russia. In 2025 it agreed with China on 94% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), with Russia on 86% and with the United States on 8%. The average member agreed with China on 87% and with the United States on 14%. Iran agreed with Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia on 95%. Each year the General Assembly adopts a Canadian-led resolution on human rights in Iran, which Iran's government calls politically motivated.
- 94%
With ChinaIn 2024: 88% - 86%
With RussiaIn 2024: 75% - 91%
With IndiaIn 2024: 79% - 8%
With the USIn 2024: 25%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which Iran and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Who does Iran vote with at the UN?
Iran votes with the Group of 77 (the UN's developing-country coalition), the Non-Aligned Movement (states outside the Cold War blocs) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It chaired the Non-Aligned Movement from 2012 to 2016. Article 152 of its 1979 constitution (amended 1989) says foreign policy "is based upon the rejection of all forms of domination." In February 2018 Ali Khamenei, then Supreme Leader, listed "preferring East to West" among Iran's priorities, replacing the 1979 slogan "Neither East nor West."
Iran breaks from those blocs on Ukraine and disarmament. It abstained on Ukraine in February 2025. An Iranian representative called the texts "another political move in a wider geopolitical rivalry." In December 2025 it voted no on the return of Ukrainian children, one of 12 to do so. It voted no on Ukraine again in February 2026. On disarmament it voted for the nuclear test-ban treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It voted no on Japan's nuclear disarmament resolution, with China, Russia, North Korea and Nicaragua. It was the only member to abstain on the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog (146-2-1).
Agreement with the United States fell from 25% in 2024 to 8% in 2025, mostly from the United States side.
How does the UN vote on human rights in Iran?
More members vote yes than no each year, but fewer than half of the 193 members vote yes. Canada has led the resolution for 23 consecutive years. In December 2025 it passed with 78 votes in favor, 27 against and 64 abstentions. China, Russia and India voted no. The United States, the United Kingdom and France voted yes. The text "condemns in the strongest terms" the increase in the use of the death penalty and "condemns the targeted repression of women and girls."
Iran's deputy ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi called the draft "politically motivated, selective, and wholly counterproductive" at the Third Committee, the Assembly's human rights committee, in November 2025. He said, "When human rights are used as a tool of pressure, their universality becomes the first casualty." Canada's former UN ambassador Bob Rae said the resolution is "about documenting abuses, warning that the world is watching, and refusing to normalize what is happening." 64 members abstained and 24 did not vote.
Protests began in Iran on December 28, 2025. In January 2026 Iran's government gave a death toll of 3,117. By February the activist group HRANA had counted more than 7,000, AP reported. On January 23, 2026, the UN Human Rights Council, a separate body, condemned the crackdown 25-7-14.
- Dec 2019Human rights in Iran, 201981 yes, 30 no, 70 abstainedNo
- Dec 2022Human rights in Iran, 202280 yes, 29 no, 65 abstainedNo
- Dec 2024Human rights in Iran, 202480 yes, 27 no, 68 abstainedNo
- Dec 2025Human rights in Iran, 202578 yes, 27 no, 64 abstainedNo
How does Iran vote on Israel and Palestine?
Iran voted yes on every Gaza resolution of 2023 to 2025. It did not vote on the New York Declaration of September 2025. The declaration was endorsed by 142 votes to 10, with 12 abstentions. The text backs a Palestinian state alongside Israel and says Hamas must end its rule in Gaza. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf states voted yes. Iran's government does not recognize Israel and rejects the two-state framework.
After the September 2025 vote, Iran's representative said peace "must be grounded in the genuine will of its original inhabitants", whom he named as Muslims, Jews and Christians, expressed through "a free and inclusive referendum", as in Iran's 2019 proposal (S/2019/862). Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told a UN conference on the two-state solution in July 2025 that "reviving failed and discredited formulas merely legitimizes aggression and entrenches injustice." He described Palestinian armed groups' actions as "their legitimate right."
Has the General Assembly voted on the wars involving Iran?
The General Assembly has not voted on the wars involving Iran. The Security Council met on both wars and adopted one resolution, in March 2026.
Israel and Iran fought from June 13 to 24, 2025. Israel's representative said that when Iran "openly declares its intent to destroy us, we believe them." Iran's representative called the strikes a "declaration of war." The United States struck Iranian nuclear sites on the night of June 21-22. The United States said it acted under "our inherent right of collective self-defence" and that "the Iranian regime cannot have a nuclear weapon." Iran's government asked the Security Council to "unequivocally condemn the aggression."
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel struck Iran again, killing then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded him. By April 7, 2026 the activist group HRANA had documented 1,701 civilian deaths in Iran. The New York Times reported at least 175 killed in a strike on a school in Minab. By mid-March 2026, 13 United States service members had been killed. Iran struck back across the Gulf and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. On March 11, the Security Council adopted resolution 2817 (13-0-2), demanding Iran stop its attacks on Gulf states and Jordan. Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, called it a "blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate."
Which countries vote most like Iran?
Compare with any country →Iran's closest matches in 2025 are developing countries that vote together on almost everything. Eswatini and Turkmenistan agreed with Iran 98% of the time, and Azerbaijan, Cuba, Grenada and Syria 97%. Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are at 95%. Its least alike are the United States (8%) and Israel (22%).
Eswatini98%
Turkmenistan98%
Azerbaijan97%
Cuba97%
Grenada97%
Syria97%
2 countries at 98%
- United States8%
Israel22%
Argentina32%
Nauru61%
Paraguay68%
How did Iran vote on the big votes?
| Vote | Iran | United States | China | Russia | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| The New York Declaration on two statesSeptember 12, 2025 | Didn't vote | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 142–10 |
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | Abstained | No | Abstained | No | Adopted 93–18 |
| Suspending Russia from the Human Rights CouncilApril 7, 2022 | No | Yes | No | No | Adopted 93–24 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does Iran sit?
Iran sits at the left end of the strip, close to Russia, North Korea and Syria, far from the United States.
United Kingdom
Saudi Arabia