As the ongoing war between the United States and Israel against Iran continues to create a regional security crisis in the Middle East, the economic impact of the war is being felt globally as oil supplies are disrupted in the region. Now, movement to reopen one of the world’s most important waterways may have stalled as a UN resolution on the matter was shot down by two major powers at odds with the U.S.
UN resolution on Strait of Hormuz fails; Iran and U.S. reach ceasefire
On Tuesday, China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a major international shipping lane through which nearly 20% of the world’s oil passes. Iran began targeting ships passing through the strait after the United States and Israel attacked the country on Feb. 28, the beginning of an ongoing conflict that has also seen Iran targeting nearby American-allied countries in the region. The resolution calling for the strait to be reopened failed as Russia and China, two veto-holding members of the Security Council, voted against it despite its language being watered down to gain their support. Eleven other countries — Bahrain, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Panama, Somalia, the United Kingdom and the United States — voted for the resolution, while Colombia and Pakistan abstained.
The failure of the UN resolution came the same day that President Donald Trump reached a temporary deal with Iran after threatening devastating attacks against the country. In a Tuesday Truth Social post, Trump had threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran didn’t accept a deal with the U.S., a warning that some people interpreted as a threat to use nuclear weapons against Iran.
Shortly before Trump’s 8 p.m. ET deadline, the White House announced that the U.S. and Iran had reached a two-week ceasefire that included the U.S. pausing its attacks on Iranian infrastructure in exchange for Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. It is unclear how that deal will impact long-term access to the strait, with the White House giving inconsistent statements about its goals.
China and Russia object to U.S. actions against Iran
While the U.S. attempts to negotiate with Iran concerning the Strait of Hormuz, the UN’s efforts to address the crisis have stalled despite attempts to soften its resolution to make it more acceptable. The initial version of the UN resolution called on nations to use “all necessary means” — a phrase that indicates military action — to ensure passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz and to protect nearby waterways. This language drew objections from China, Russia and France, which, along with Britain and the United States, are permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council. The language was then eased to approve only of “all defensive means necessary” to protect travel through the strait and other waterways. The language was again weakened to remove any direct Security Council authorizations of force and to eliminate references to adjacent waterways.
Even with these changes, Russia and China maintained their objections, as Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia objected that the resolution, even in its watered-down form, would give the United States and Israel “carte blanche for continued aggression.” Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the UN, warned that the resolution was “highly susceptible to misinterpretation or even abuse,” and he maintained that it “would send a wrong message and have serious, very serious consequences.” Both countries cited Trump’s threat to end Iranian “civilization” in their objections to the UN resolution. Bahrain, the author of the failed resolution and one of the Gulf states impacted by the war, said that the international community was being “held hostage to economic blackmail” by Iran. China and Russia, meanwhile, have circulated an alternative resolution which calls on all sides to stop fighting and condemns attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
It is unlikely that this counterproposal will gain any traction with the United States, which also has veto power within the Security Council. With the major powers disagreeing, the UN seems deadlocked on any meaningful action concerning the war in Iran, even as that nation and the U.S. have entered a temporary ceasefire but an uncertain long-term future.