Saudi Arabia officially told the United Nations on Tuesday that it would not be taking up the UN Security Council seat.

Saudi envoy to the United Nations, Abdullah Al-Mouallimi, wrote to UN chief Ban Ki-moon to inform him of the move and reaffirm the Saudi protest over the way the council has acted over the Syria conflict.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky confirmed that a letter had been received from Al-Mouallimi about the Security Council seat.

“The matter is now one for Saudi Arabia, the Security Council and the member states to consider,” he said. Saudi Arabia won a seat on the Security Council for the first time last month. But the following day the Saudi government stunned leading powers by announcing it would not take up the seat.

A new UN General Assembly election will have to be held to allow a new country to take up the two-year seat that Saudi Arabia should have started on Jan. 1.

“I wish to inform you that the government of Saudi Arabia has decided to advise you that Saudi Arabia will regrettably not be in position to assume its seat in the Security Council to which it was elected,” Al-Mouallimi wrote in the letter.

Attached to the letter was a copy of a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement issued last month, which slammed the Security Council’s failure to act over the 32-month-old Syria war. The Saudi government said the 15-country’s deadlock over Syria was “irrefutable evidence and proof of the inability of the Security Council to carry out its duties and responsibilities.”

Riyadh also complained about lack of progress in efforts to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Saudi government has since stepped up calls for reform of the Security Council.