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The US and Gulf countries met at the UN in New York on Wednesday to discuss a new resolution aimed at guaranteeing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE's ambassador to the UN said every country has a stake in protecting freedom of navigation in the waterway, and that the situation in the strait was a test of the international system.
“This is not only a regional issue, it is a test of whether the international system can protect the basic conditions on which the global economy depends,” Mohamed Abushahab said at the UN ahead of a closed-door meeting on the draft resolution.
“The council should uphold its own decisions and compel Iran's compliance using all tools at its disposal. The Security Council cannot remain a forum for repeating platitudes while violations continue in plain sight.”
The draft resolution requires Iran to cease attacks, laying mines and applying tolls in the crucial waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil flows. It also demands Iran disclose the number and location of the sea mines it has laid and co-operate with efforts to remove them, while also supporting the establishment of a humanitarian corridor.
“What happens in the Strait of Hormuz does not stay in the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Abushahab said. “It affects energy markets, supply chains, food prices and economic stability across the globe.”
He also condemned Iran's attacks on the UAE this week. “These are not the actions of a state seeking stability,” he said. “They are the actions of a regime choosing escalation over diplomacy and coercion over peace.”
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar have joined the US in drafting the resolution, which comes after a previous resolution introduced by Manama was vetoed by Russia and China.
Mr Abushahab urged the council to take action, saying if it does not, “other actors will draw their own conclusions about the credibility of this organisation and the enforceability of Security Council resolutions aimed at upholding international law”.
The US announced the drafting of the new UN Security Council resolution on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of holding the global economy hostage in efforts to close the strait, as well as threatening to attack shipping, laying sea mines and trying to charge tolls.
“The United States looks forward to this resolution being voted on in the coming days and to receiving support from Security Council members and a broad base of co-sponsors,” he said in a statement.
Mr Rubio said the US had made some adjustments to the draft UN resolution to try and avoid fresh vetoes by China and Russia.
“All we're asking [the Security Council] to do is to condemn [Iran], to call on Iran to stop blowing [up] ships, to remove these mines and to allow humanitarian relief to come through,” Mr Rubio told a White House press conference later.
Iran dismissed the "flawed" new resolution as a US attempt to push its political agenda.
"The only viable solution in the Strait of Hormuz is clear: a permanent end to the war, the lifting of the maritime blockade, and the restoration of normal passage," Iran's UN mission said in a post on X, calling on member states to reject the draft.
The announcement comes as the ceasefire between the US and Iran continues to hold, despite a wave of Iranian attacks on the UAE on Monday.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that so-called Project Freedom, which involved escorting commercial vessels through the strait, would be paused amid negotiations with Iran, but he said that the US blockade of the waterway would continue.
He reiterated threats that if Iran fails to reach a deal with the US, the conflict will resume.
“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
