the United States circulated a new draft resolution , submitted jointly with Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, concerning ensuring safe passage for all countries through the Strait of Hormuz. Any reference to Chapter VII of the UN Charter was removed, in the hope that the draft resolution could overcome the obstacle of a potential double veto by Russia and China.
The sponsors of the draft resolution announced that the deadline for submitting amendments to the text was 8:00 AM on Friday. Neither Russia nor China submitted any amendments, meaning that the two countries object to the entire text, not just certain paragraphs.
Diplomatic sources at the United Nations headquarters stated that Russia continues to reject the language of the draft resolution, considering it to be “legitimizing two simultaneous wars.” The Russian mission accuses the US-Bahraini draft of containing a list of demands directed solely at Iran, while ignoring the root causes of the current conflict, which it describes as an “illegitimate war of aggression” waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The Russian mission accuses the US-Bahraini draft resolution of containing a list of demands directed solely at Iran, and of ignoring the root causes of the current conflict, which is based on an “illegitimate war of aggression” waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The sources said that the Russian delegation expressed its objections to the draft resolution during the closed consultation session held on May 6.
The US and Bahraini ambassadors, along with the ambassadors of the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the Kuwaiti deputy ambassador, defended the draft resolution during a press conference in front of the Security Council chamber on Thursday, stressing that it calls for what is stipulated in international law regarding freedom of navigation and the non-use of force or the threat thereof, as stipulated in the International Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The draft resolution, which Al-Quds Al-Arabi has seen, affirms that all ships and aircraft, including commercial and cargo vessels, must enjoy their navigational rights and freedoms, which may not be unlawfully obstructed, through the Strait of Hormuz, in accordance with customary international law as embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The draft also stipulates that Iran must immediately cease all attacks and threats against commercial and cargo vessels, and any attempt to obstruct the legitimate exercise of navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz, including laying sea mines in the strait and imposing illegal transit fees.
The draft resolution also decides that Iran must immediately disclose the numbers and locations of the sea mines it has planted in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and work to remove them, while at the same time refraining from obstructing the efforts of other member states to carry out mine clearance operations.
The draft also stipulates Iran’s immediate commitment to participate in and facilitate UN efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor in the Strait, and emphasizes that humanitarian aid, fertilizers and other vital goods are being hampered by Iran’s closure of the Strait and the laying of sea mines in it.
The draft resolution also refers to the damage caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to global trade and the delivery of agricultural fertilizers to developing countries.
As of Friday morning, the sponsors of the draft resolution had not set a date for the vote.
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