Status Update since our September Forecast
UN Peacekeeping
On 9 September, the Security Council held an open debate on UN peace operations, titled “The future of peace operations: key issues, opportunities and challenges in the context of the review on the future of all forms of UN peace operations” (S/PV.9991 and Resumption I and II). The briefers were Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo; Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) Ambassador Thomas Zahneisen (Germany); and Jenna Russo, the Director of Research and Head of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations at the International Peace Institute (IPI).
Sudan
On 12 September, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2791, renewing the 1591 Sudan sanctions regime—including targeted sanctions (asset freezes and travel bans) and an arms embargo—for another year, until 12 September 2026. It also renewed the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee until October 2026, expressing the Council’s intention to review the mandate and decide on a further extension by 12 September 2026.
Violation of Polish Airspace
On 12 September, the Security Council held an emergency briefing under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item (S/PV.9995). Poland requested the meeting in a 10 September letter to the Council (S/2025/572), stating that it had pre-emptively shot down 19 “drone-type objects” that had entered its airspace and that had been fired from the territories of Belarus and Russia. The Council’s European members—Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and the UK—supported the meeting request. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo briefed.
Iraq/Kuwait
On 17 September, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2792, authorising the appointment of a Senior Representative with a mandate to promote, support and facilitate efforts to repatriate or return missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property.
Afghanistan
On 17 September, the Council convened for an open briefing on Afghanistan (S/PV.9998). The briefers were Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Roza Otunbayeva and Hanifa Girowal, Non-Resident Fellow of the Afghanistan Policy Lab at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Afghanistan, India, Iran, and Kyrgyzstan participated in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
Iran
On 19 September, the Security Council voted on a draft resolution regarding the “snapback” of UN sanctions on Iran, which were lifted under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme. Following the 28 August decision of the “E3” parties to the JCPOA (France, Germany, and the UK) to trigger the snapback process, and pursuant to the JCPOA and resolution 2231 of 20 July 2015, which endorsed it, the draft resolution was put forward by the Republic of Korea (ROK) in its capacity as Council president. The text contained a single operative paragraph by which the Council would have decided to continue providing sanctions relief. It failed to be adopted due to insufficient votes, receiving four votes in favour (Algeria, China, Pakistan, and Russia); nine against (Denmark, France, Greece, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, the UK, and the US); and two abstentions (Guyana and ROK).
On 26 September, the Security Council voted on a draft resolution to extend the JCPOA and resolution 2231 for six months, until 18 April. The draft text was put forward by China and Russia in response to the E3’s snapback invocation. If adopted, the draft resolution would have delayed the activation of the snapback. It also failed to garner the requisite nine votes, however, receiving four votes in favour (Algeria, China, Pakistan, and Russia); nine against (Denmark, France, Greece, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, the UK, and the US); and two abstentions (Guyana and ROK). As such, sanctions were reimposed on 28 September at the end of the 30-day countdown that followed the snapback invocation.
Violation of Estonian Airspace
On 22 September, the Security Council held an urgent briefing under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item (S/PV.10002). The meeting was requested by Estonia in a 20 September letter to the Council (S/2025/594), which said that three Russian fighter jets had violated Estonia’s airspace on 19 September. The Council’s European members (Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and the UK) supported the request. Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča briefed.
Ukraine
On 23 September, the Security Council held a high-level briefing on Ukraine, which was requested by the Council’s European members (France, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia, and the UK) (S/PV.10004). Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign Minister Cho Hyun chaired the meeting and Secretary-General António Guterres briefed. Several Council members and other participants were represented by their heads of state or foreign ministers, who were in New York for the high-level segment of the 80th session of the General Assembly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy represented his country at the meeting.
Artificial Intelligence
On 24 September, the Security Council held a high-level open debate on artificial intelligence (AI) under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item (S/PV.10005) that continued on 25 and 26 September (Resumption I and II, respectively). Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Jae Myung chaired the open debate, which was the signature event of ROK’s September Council presidency. UN Secretary-General António Guterres; Yoshua Bengio, Professor at Université de Montréal and Co-President and Scientific Director of LawZero (via videoconference); and Yejin Choi, Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, briefed at the open debate.
League of Arab States
On 25 September, the Security Council held an informal interactive dialogue (IID) on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS). Cho Hyun, the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, chaired the meeting. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari and LAS Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit briefed. The foreign ministers of Bahrain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, the members of the Arab Summit Troika—a group of three rotating countries that monitor the implementation of resolutions and commitments adopted by the LAS—also participated at the ministerial level.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
On 30 September, the Security Council held an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the work of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (S/PV.10008). Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita briefed based on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the mission, which was circulated to Council members on 19 September and covers developments since 20 June (S/2025/590).
