New York - Diplomats from dozens of countries gathered at the United Nations on Monday to demand the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, piling pressure on Iran to lift a blockade that has paralyzed shipping through one of the world's most critical oil chokepoints.
The show of unity – staged ahead of an open Security Council meeting on the waterway – came as a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between Washington and Tehran entered a fragile new phase, with negotiators struggling to bridge gaps over Iran's nuclear program and the waterway's future.
Reading a joint statement on behalf of the assembled delegations, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, whose country holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month, said the closure of the strait and continued Iranian attacks on shipping posed a direct threat to international security.
"We reaffirm our full support for Resolution 2817, condemning Iran's attacks against regional neighbors," Zayani said. "Free navigation through the strait is a cornerstone of global security and prosperity."
Conspicuously absent from the gathering were the Chinese and Russian representatives, the two permanent Security Council members who earlier this month vetoed a Bahraini-led draft resolution that would have authorized states to coordinate defensive measures, including naval escorts, to keep the waterway open. The April 7 vote was 11 in favor, two against, with Colombia and Pakistan abstaining.
Speaking inside the chamber, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed the call for unimpeded passage and urged the parties to step back from the brink.
"Navigational rights and freedoms through the Strait of Hormuz must be respected, as affirmed by this Council's Resolution 2817," Guterres said. "I appeal to the parties: open the strait. Let ships pass. No tolls. No discrimination. Let trade resume."
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong, asked by Rudaw why Beijing had broken with the broader council consensus, said his government's priority was halting the wider conflict rather than backing what it views as a one-sided text.
"What is most important is to achieve peace, and then if peace prevails, I think the Strait of Hormuz will be open," Fu told Rudaw on the sidelines of the meeting.
Asked whether a rival resolution that China and Russia had been drafting was still alive, Fu said: "Yes, it's still on the table."
A waterway, a war, and a global shock
The diplomatic standoff at Turtle Bay is unfolding against the backdrop of the war that began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran, killing the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a swath of senior military and government officials.