SANA’A — Yemeni armed forces aligned with the Ansarullah movement captured the Al-Aghbarah mountain range in Lahj province overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait on Thursday, consolidating control over the vital waterway as Saudi-backed forces withdrew from their positions, while hundreds of thousands rallied across Yemen on Friday in support of the military campaign.
Local sources reported that the so-called Giants Brigades, a Saudi-backed militia, retreated and abandoned their positions after the Yemeni armed forces attacked. Sana’a-aligned forces reassured the region’s tribes that their operations target only Saudi-backed troop concentrations.
“Control over the Al-Aghbarah mountains strengthens their positions at Bab al-Mandab and gives them superior surveillance and oversight

 renewed mandate ahead of its scheduled expiration on September 26.
The session, convened under France’s September presidency, opened with an immediate procedural clash after Russia objected to discussions under the “Non-proliferation” agenda item. 
Moscow underlined that Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, expired on October 18, 2025, and that the council had already concluded its consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue.
“The Security Council concluded its consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue, and the item non-proliferation was removed from the list of matters of which the Council is seized,” the Russian delegation told the chamber, asserting there was no procedural or legal foundation for the meeting.
China aligned with Moscow, with Ambassador Fu Cong warning that forcing through the restoration of sanctions would “only undermine the unity and credibility of the Council and create obstacles to diplomatic effort.” 
He called on all parties to play a constructive role rather than engage in “political confrontation and pressurization.”
The agenda was first approved in a procedural vote not subject to veto before members proceeded to the substantive vote.
Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations issued a statement Thursday expressing “deep” appreciation to Russia and China for their “principled, steadfast positions and decisive actions,” and commended Somalia and Pakistan for their abstentions.
The mission said the U.S. draft was submitted “with political motives” aimed at reviving the mandate of the Panel of Experts associated with the “illegal Resolution 1737 committee.” 
It said Russia and China “once again stood firm in defense of the UN Charter, international law, and the integrity of the Council,” thwarting “yet another hypocritical attempt by the United States and its allies to exploit the Council for their own political ends.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the vetoes signaled the end of the “unipolar order.” 
“The unipolar order in which one side extracts concessions through force and coercion has ended,” he wrote on X. “China and Russia’s vetoes rejected the political abuse of the Security Council and reaffirmed the rule of law.”
At the center of the confrontation is a fundamental disagreement over the legal status of UN sanctions on Iran. The 1737 Sanctions Committee was established under Resolution 1737 of 2006 and tasked with reporting to the Council every 90 days. 
Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015 to endorse the JCPOA, suspended all previous Iran-related sanctions resolutions, effectively rendering the 1737 Committee and its reporting requirements inactive.
In August 2025, France, Germany and Britain — the European parties to the JCPOA known as the E3 — claimed to have activated the “snapback” mechanism to restore UN sanctions, despite their own violations of the agreement. 
Russia and China dispute the validity of that move, maintaining that Resolution 2231 expired definitively on October 18, 2025, and that the previous sanctions regime and its subsidiary bodies were not restored.
Iran maintains that from that date, all nuclear-related provisions, measures, restrictions and mechanisms are permanently terminated, and that the council’s role under Resolution 2231 has definitively ended.
Separately, Iran’s UN mission in Geneva formally objected to the U.S. designation to the IAEA Board of Governors, saying Washington’s record of attacks on Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities makes its membership incompatible with the board’s principles.
“Placing the U.S. on that Board would create a profound contradiction,” the statement said, describing the situation as allowing “the aggressor to sit in judgment” over matters linked to its own conduct. 
Iran warned of a “structural conflict of interest” that could undermine the board’s neutrality and public confidence in the IAEA.
The objection came as the Board of Governors referred Iran to the Security Council last week over alleged safeguards violations, a move Iran rejected as politically motivated and legally unfounded. 
Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi told the 70th IAEA General Conference on Thursday that the international community must adopt a “zero-tolerance policy” toward any attack or threat against peaceful nuclear facilities.
“Silence in the face of such attacks is not neutrality,” Najafi said. “It risks emboldening future aggressions.”