The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic in the Soviet era said Lavrov stated that because the Soviet Union is a member of the Security Council, it cannot vote in favor of Iran.
Nematollah Izadi, the last ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the Soviet Union, said that in the 1980s, Soviet representatives consistently voted against the Islamic Republic in human rights cases.
According to him, Sergey Lavrov, the current Russian Foreign Minister, explained at that time that because the Soviet Union is a permanent member of the Security Council, it cannot vote in favor of Iran in these matters.