Iran says it is trying to find a secure channel so it can pay its membership fee to the United Nations to end its suspension from the international body.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh made the remarks after the Islamic Republic lost the right to vote at the UN over unpaid dues.

Khatibzadeh said Wednesday night that necessary consultations are ongoing to resolve the issue but did not elaborate on the process or the secure channel.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this week that 11 countries are behind in their payments but the right to vote is suspended for eight of them, including Iran, Sudan and Venezuela.

According to the UN charter, a member loses the right to vote when its debts equal or exceed the amount of dues it should have paid over the last two years.

Last year, Iran was suspended because it could not pay even the minimum amount because of US sanctions, but after months of negotiations Tehran was granted an exemption and was allowed to access money blocked by the US Treasury.

Tehran managed to pay $16 million of its $65 million arrears to recover the vote in June 2021, in time for the election of new members of the Security Council but this time the minimum amount Iran must pay is over $18 million.