Trump administration votes against UN budget, citing Israel, Iran disputes

The campaign of outgoing US President Donald Trump has voted against the United Nations’ budget of $3.231 billion for 2021, citing disagreements on Israel and Iran.

However, except for Israel that sided with the US, the other 168 nations voted in favor of the annual budget that is traditionally approved by consensus.

The US has supported the funding over the past three years even as Trump complained that other countries were not contributing enough and his administration withdrew from UN bodies it considered anti-American or anti-Israel.

On Thursday, Washington voted against the budget over disagreements on a conference that it regards as anti-Israel and on Iran sanctions.

The US was unhappy due to funding allocated for a 20th anniversary event for the Durban Conference -- a 2001 anti-racism conference held in South Africa that was harshly critical of Israel -- as well as the lack of support for a US attempt to re-establish a team of experts within the UN to monitor sanctions on Iran.

The latest budget reflects “an accommodation that extends a shameful legacy of hate, anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias,” US Ambassador Kelly Craft claimed in a statement. “The United States rejects this effort and called for this vote to make clear that we stand by our principles, stand up for what is right, and never accept consensus for consensus’s sake.”

"Twenty years on, there remains nothing about the Durban Declaration to celebrate or to endorse. It is poisoned by anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias," she added.

After approving the annual budget, the General Assembly separately approved a resolution supporting follow-up efforts on the Durban conference. That resolution passed 106-14 with 44 abstentions with the US, Israel, Britain, France and Germany voting no.

Craft also said that the US vote would not, however, change its contribution to the international body.

Trump accuses WHO of becoming 'puppet' organization of China

Donald Trump has said that he is severing US ties with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Under Trump, the US quit the World Health Organization and angered Security Council members with its effort to kill what remains of the Iran nuclear agreement among other measures.

President-elect Joe Biden has, however, vowed to reverse the go-it-alone approach by returning to the WHO, rejoining the Paris climate accord and seeking to repair the Iran deal known as the Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The JCPOA was signed between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries, the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany, and ratified in UNSC Resolution 2231.

Iran not excited about Biden win, but happy with Trump departure: Rouhani

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is not excited about the election of Joe Biden as US president, but is happy with the departure of Donald Trump, the “most rogue” and “law-breaking” American leader

However, Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions that had been lifted by the deal.

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