Explanation

Seven countries including Iran have lost their right to vote in the UN General Assembly because of upaid dues, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday. The UN charter calls for such a voting rights suspension for countries whose arrears equal or surpass the amount of the contributions due from them to UN coffers in the previous two years. The other six countries are Niger, Libya, the Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, South Sudan and Zimbabwe, Guterres said in a letter to the president of the General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir of Turkey.