The UN Security Council postponed a vote scheduled for yesterday on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain authorizing the use of “defensive” force to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks.
The reason given was that the UN observes Good Friday as a public holiday, diplomatic sources said.
No new date has been given for voting on the draft.
Photo: Reuters
Iran has placed a stranglehold on the key shipping lane in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that triggered the month-old Middle East war.
“We cannot accept economic terrorism affecting our region and the world, the whole world is being affected by the developments,” Bahrain Ambassador to the UN Jamal Alrowaiei said.
The text of the draft, which has gone through several amendments and is supported by the US, “comes at a critical juncture,” he added.
US President Donald Trump had called for countries struggling with fuel shortages to “go get your own oil” in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that US forces would not help them.
A sixth and final draft greenlights member states — either unilaterally or as “voluntary multinational naval partnerships” — to use “all defensive means necessary and commensurate with the circumstances.”
It applies to the strait and adjacent waters to “secure transit passage and to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The measure would last for a period of at least six months. The draft resolution has been molded in a bid to rally several countries that have appeared skeptical, including Russia, China and France.
Revised wording no longer explicitly invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows the Security Council to authorize armed force to restore peace.
It also emphasizes the defensive nature of any intervention — a stipulation that seems to have alleviated French concerns.
French Ambassador to the UN Jerome Bonnafont said “it is up to the Council to quickly devise the necessary defensive response” after members last month voted to condemn Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.
It is not certain that Russia and China — who wield veto powers — would back the draft resolution.
“Authorizing member states to use force would amount to legitimizing the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation of the situation and lead to serious consequences,” Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Fu Cong (傅?).
Russia, a long-time ally of Tehran, has denounced what it calls one-sided measures.
Considering the possible Russian and Chinese vetoes, the text “faces tall odds to make it through the Security Council,” International Crisis Group analyst Daniel Forti said. “It is hard to see them supporting a resolution that treats stability in the strait exclusively as a security issue, instead of one that also grapples with the need for a durable political end to the hostilities.”
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