UN General Assembly · 79th Session: Plenary Vote on Iran Resolution

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On December 17, during the 53rd plenary meeting of its 79th session, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. You can read the full draft resolution put forward by Canada via the UN Digital Library, as well as Impact Iran’s analysis of language changes in the resolution, in our Third Committee vote recap.

On December 17, during the 53rd plenary meeting of its 79th session, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. You can read the full draft resolution put forward by Canada via the UN Digital Library, as well as Impact Iran’s analysis of language changes in the resolution, in our Third Committee vote recap.

AFGHANISTANCABO VERDEESTONIAJAMAICAMONACOREPUBLIC OF MOLDOVASYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
ALBANIACAMBODIAESWATINIJAPANMONGOLIAROMANIATAJIKISTAN
ALGERIACAMEROONETHIOPIAJORDANMONTENEGRORUSSIAN FEDERATIONTHAILAND
ANDORRACANADAFIJIKAZAKHSTANMOROCCORWANDATIMOR-LESTE
ANGOLACENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICFINLANDKENYAMOZAMBIQUESAINT KITTS AND NEVISTOGO
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDACHADFRANCEKIRIBATIMYANMARSAINT LUCIATONGA
ARGENTINACHILEGABONKUWAITNAMIBIASAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINESTRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
ARMENIACHINAGAMBIAKYRGYZSTANNAURUSAMOATUNISIA
AUSTRALIACOLOMBIAGEORGIALAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICNEPALSAN MARINOTURKEY
AUSTRIACOMOROSGERMANYLATVIANETHERLANDSSAO TOME AND PRINCIPETURKMENISTAN
AZERBAIJANCONGOGHANALEBANONNEW ZEALANDSAUDI ARABIATUVALU
BAHAMASCOSTA RICAGREECELESOTHONICARAGUASENEGALUGANDA
BAHRAINCÔTE D’IVOIREGRENADALIBERIANIGERSERBIAUKRAINE
BANGLADESHCROATIAGUATEMALALIBYANIGERIASEYCHELLESUNITED ARAB EMIRATES
BARBADOSCYPRUSGUINEALIECHTENSTEINNORTH MACEDONIASIERRA LEONEUNITED KINGDOM
BELARUSCUBAGUINEA-BISSAULITHUANIANORWAYSINGAPOREUNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
BELGIUMCZECHIAGUYANALUXEMBOURGOMANSLOVAKIAUNITED STATES
BELIZEDEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREAHAITIMADAGASCARPAKISTANSLOVENIAURUGUAY
BENINDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGOHONDURASMALAWIPALAUSOLOMON ISLANDSUZBEKISTAN
BHUTANDENMARKHUNGARYMALAYSIAPANAMASOMALIAVANUATU
BOLIVIA (PLURINATIONAL STATE OF)DJIBOUTIICELANDMALDIVESPAPUA NEW GUINEASOUTH AFRICAVENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF)
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINADOMINICAINDIAMALIPARAGUAYSOUTH SUDANVIET NAM
BOTSWANADOMINICAN REPUBLICINDONESIAMALTAPERUSPAINYEMEN
BRAZILECUADORIRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF)MARSHALL ISLANDSPHILIPPINESSRI LANKAZAMBIA
BRUNEI DARUSSALAMEGYPTIRAQMAURITANIAPOLANDSUDANZIMBABWE
BULGARIAEL SALVADORIRELANDMAURITIUSPORTUGALSURINAME
BURKINA FASOEQUATORIAL GUINEAISRAELMEXICOQATARSWEDEN
BURUNDIERITREAITALYMICRONESIA (FEDERATED STATES OF)REPUBLIC OF KOREASWITZERLAND

Changes from Third Committee Vote (Nov. 20)

Vote ChangeMember States
⬜ Absent → 🟨 AbstentionBotswana, Central African Republic
⬜ Absent → 🟥 AgainstZimbabwe
⬜ Absent → 🟩 In FavourCabo Verde, Bulgaria, Seychelles
🟨 Abstention → ⬜ AbsentGabon
🟨 Abstention → 🟩 In FavourLiberia
🟥 Against → ⬜ AbsentSyria
🟥 Against → 🟨 AbstentionChad
🟩 In Favour → 🟨 AbstentionTuvalu

Voting Highlights

The resolution was adopted with 80 YES votes, 27 NO votes, and 68 Abstentions – an improvement on both the Third Committee vote in November (78 YES votes, 28 NO votes, and 66 Abstentions) and last year’s plenary vote (78 YES votes, 30 NO votes, and 68 Abstentions).

We suggested that the lower YES vote count in November could largely have been explained by “states that were not present to vote but would have, in all likelihood, voted YES, such as Bulgaria and Cabo Verde”. This was confirmed during the plenary vote, as both Bulgaria and Cabo Verde voted in favour of the resolution, as well as Seychelles.

The resolution has as of this moment lost a staunch and vocal opponent in Syria, who was absent today, and had previously voted against every Iran resolution in the past decade.

Although India has voted against every resolution at the plenary level for the past decade, it upheld its Abstention vote from the Third Committee, confirming an ongoing shift vis-à-vis human rights in Iran.

Tuvalu, previously a consistent supporter, has, for the second year in a row, voted in favour of the resolution during the Third Committee vote and abstained during the plenary vote.

Unlike recent votes, the UNGA opted to merge the voting processes and explanations of vote of all the country-specific human rights resolutions. As such, the only state that directly addressed the Iranian resolution was the concerned country, who expressed strong disapproval as expected.

Find a full livestream of the UNGA vote on the Iran resolution below, via UN Web TV:

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