Secretary of State Pompeo with the United States envoy to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, about to meet with the Security Council president, Dian Triansyah Djani, in August at the UN in New York City. The US entourage was delivering a letter saying the US was triggering the snapback in the Iran nuclear deal. RON PRZYSUCHA/STATE DEPARTMENT
Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, right, and Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left, meeting in Tehran, Aug. 25, 2020. Iran agreed to allow the agency access to possible nuclear sites even as it has accumulated 10 times the amount of low-enriched uranium permitted in the 2015 nuclear deal.
The first lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton, addressing the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, Sept. 5, 1995. Twenty-five years later, a prominent American feminist asks in an essay, where do women stand now? (Hint: She’s optimistic.) MILTON GRANT/UN PHOTO
The 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; the United States sanctions the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; dissecting the failed ambitions of the US effort to force the UN mission in Lebanon to be more aggressive.
Finnish peacekeepers with the UN mission in Lebanon on patrol with the Lebanese Armed Forces along the Blue Line, June 23, 2020. The author writes that the recent renewal of the UN mission’s mandate was marked by rising tensions between the United States and other Security Council members, to little avail. PASQUAL GORRIZ/UN PHOTO
The notion that ‘Canada is better’, especially when compared with US foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada’s global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel.
On June 17, Canada lost its second bid for the coveted UN Security Council seat, which, had it won, would have allowed Ottawa the opportunity to become a world leader, pushing its own agenda – and those of its allies – on the global stage.
A day after the devastating Aug. 4, 2020 blast in Beirut’s port, one ship in the maritime section of the UN mission in Lebanon was damaged, injuring naval peacekeepers, some of them seriously. Here, the Bangladeshi contingent prays on Aug. 5 near the scene. PASQUAL GORRIZ/UN PHOTO
India’s new ambassador to the UN, T. S. Tirumurti, has arrived in New York City, tweeting about sunsets and meeting fellow diplomats so far. The country joins the Security Council in January and will most likely refrain from allying with any big power. INDIAN MISSION TO THE UN
With five months to go before India takes its elected seat on the Security Council for 2021-2022, the country’s foreign minister says it will stay true to its founding tradition of nonalignment and not take sides with any big power.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, addressing the Security Council in its first physical meeting at New York City headquarters since March 12. It is unclear when the Council will meet again in the UN building.
As the number of Covid-19 cases skyrockets globally — and the United States remains the epicenter with nearly 3.6 million confirmed cases — the United Nations Security Council met physically on July 14 for the first time since March 12.
A Saudi-led post-bombing scene in Hodeidah, Yemen. The US is the world’s largest exporter of explosive weapons, and Saudi Arabia is its biggest customer. DIETRICH KLOSE/FLICKR
President Trump boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. July 10, 2020, en route to Miami. The administration notified the UN on July 6 that the US was withdrawing from the World Health Organization, effective exactly one year later. TIA DUFOUR/WHITE HOUSE
In a final straw to the current troubles between the World Health Organization and the United States, the Trump administration notified United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on July 6 of its withdrawal from the agency, effective July 6, 2021.
