UN General Assembly on Monday said that Iran, Guinea, and Vanuatu had paid sufficient back dues to the United Nations' regular operating budget to regain their voting rights in the 193-member world body.

The UN Charter states that members whose arrears equal or exceed the amount of their contributions for the preceding two full years lose their voting rights.

But it also gives the General Assembly the authority to decide "that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member" and in that case, a country can continue to vote.

According to a 12 January letter to the assembly from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, eight countries lost their voting rights. But last week, three of those countries including Sudan, Antigua and Barbuda, and Republic of Congo paid enough of their owed dues to regain their right to vote.

The General Assembly decided that three African countries on the list of nations in arrears -- Comoros, Sao Tome, and Principe and Somalia would be able to keep their voting rights.

However, there are two countries including Venezuela and Papua New Guinea, are without the right to vote in the General Assembly.

According to Guterres' letter, the minimum payments needed to restore voting rights were USD 18,412,438 for Iran, USD 39,850,761 for Venezuela and USD 299,044 for Sudan. The five other countries each needed less than USD 75,000 to restore their voting rights.

Image credit: Getty