On November 13, 2013, Saudi Arabia officially rejected a seat on the United Nations Security Council, following its October 18, 2013 announcement that it would do so. According to a news story, now that the seat remains vacant, the Group of Asia Pacific States, a bloc of General Assembly members, “must now choose among themselves at least one replacement candidate.” If more than one state is interested in the seat, a special election may be held. The decision by Saudi Arabia to reject the seat is “widely seen as part of a broader display of the country’s anger at the United States over American policies toward Syria, Egypt, Iran, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”