Gulf states on Thursday said they would rework and reintroduce a UN Security Council resolution to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, after an earlier draft failed to pass, exposing deep division among major powers.
“The Gulf region lies at the heart of global economic stability. Its security is inseparable from global security,” Kuwait’s envoy to the UN, Tareq Al Banai, told the General Assembly. He was speaking on behalf of the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, as well as his own country.
The strait, a key route for global oil and gas supply, has been effectively closed since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Almost 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply passes through the strait in peacetime.
Mr Al Banai said the Gulf countries would intensify consultations to secure broader backing for a revised resolution grounded in international law and freedom of navigation.
“In recognition of the seriousness of the current threats … we will continue co-ordinating closely with member states in preparation for submitting a new draft resolution,” he said.
On April 7, Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution submitted by Gulf and Arab states on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters.
The core provision of the draft resolution “encouraged” member states to co-ordinate defensive measures to protect navigation through the strait, including by escorting ships, and to deter attempts to disrupt maritime traffic.
It further stated that Iran’s actions in and around the strait constitute a threat to international peace and security, and demanded that Tehran immediately halt all attacks and threats against commercial shipping, as well as any efforts to impede the freedom of navigation.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said the Security Council was “effectively being asked to give a green light for the use of certain defensive measures under the pretext of ensuring maritime security”.
“This would have amounted to a carte blanche for continued aggressive actions and further escalation,” she added.
Iran's envoy to the UN, Amir Iravani, said the vetoes cast by China and Russia were “timely, justified and necessary”.
Mr Al Banai said the failure of the council to adopt the resolution did not absolve any party of responsibility. “Rather, it sends the wrong message to the world that threats to international waterways can occur without a firm collective response from the international body responsible for maintaining international peace and security.”
The Gulf states warned that continued disruption to the vital waterway could worsen global supply chains and food security, and added that a new approach would help to build a wider consensus.
Meanwhile, Iran's armed forces threatened to block shipping from the Arabian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea if the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports and “creates insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers”.
“By seeking to obstruct maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports, the United States unlawfully interferes with the exercise of the sovereign rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran and infringes upon the rights of third states and lawful maritime commerce under international law,” Mr Iravani said.
He warned that the US must bear full responsibility for the blockade and for any consequences that arise.
