Bahrain’s bid to secure a UN resolution to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has stalled, highlighting deep divisions among global powers over how to respond to Iran’s effective closure of the key waterway.
The Gulf state, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member UN Security Council this month, had hoped a revised draft would break the deadlock.
The updated version removed an explicit reference to binding enforcement measures, in an apparent attempt to address concerns from countries including Russia and China.
However, diplomats said objections persisted. China, Russia and France all raised issues before the draft could proceed under the Council’s “silence procedure” on Wednesday - a process allowing adoption if no member objects.
Bahrain’s UN ambassador, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, acknowledged the challenges, telling reporters the proposal still required “a lot of work.”
Behind the diplomatic wrangling lies a worsening global energy crisis. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas typically passes, has been largely shut for a month.
Tanker traffic has all but ceased following Iranian attacks on vessels, carried out in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes that began the conflict on 28 February.
Despite the urgency, major Gulf and Western powers remain without a clear plan to reopen the route. “There are ongoing communications and discussions… to find a draft that can garner consensus,” Alrowaiei said, signalling negotiations are continuing but remain far from resolution.
The original Bahraini draft, backed by Washington and several Gulf states, invoked Chapter VII of the UN Charter - a powerful provision allowing measures ranging from sanctions to military force.
Diplomats said such language would almost certainly have triggered vetoes from Russia and China, both of which maintain close ties with Iran.
The revised text dropped the Chapter VII reference but retained robust wording that could still be interpreted as authorising force to ensure safe passage through the strait and nearby waters. This has continued to alarm some Council members, who fear it could open the door to UN-backed military action.
France has taken a different approach, circulating an alternative draft that avoids naming Iran and instead calls for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy. French officials have also pushed back against suggestions that NATO should play a leading role in reopening the strait, emphasising that the alliance is designed for Euro-Atlantic defence rather than offensive operations in the Gulf.
Speaking in Paris, French naval chief Admiral Nicolas Vaujour said efforts were under way to bring multiple countries together to agree on conditions for reopening the waterway in a sustainable manner. He added that China, as the largest importer of oil passing through the strait, would eventually need to take a more active role.
Meanwhile, the United States has sent mixed signals. Early in the crisis, President Donald Trump pledged naval escorts for commercial vessels and urged allies to contribute. More recently, he has suggested the U.S. may step back, calling on others - particularly European NATO partners - to take responsibility. He has also escalated criticism of the alliance, even threatening withdrawal.
On the ground, the situation remains tense. Iran has said it allows safe passage for vessels from countries it does not consider hostile, but ongoing attacks have deterred most shipping companies. The disruption has driven fuel prices sharply higher and raised concerns about wider economic fallout.
With disagreements entrenched among the Security Council’s permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - diplomats say it is unlikely any resolution will be put to a vote this week.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck two cargo vessels overnight in the Ukrainian Black Sea port o...
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad sayin...
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction. ...
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, explosions were heard across parts of southern Iran according to local media reports.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
A Russian strike on a gas station in Kyiv has killed two people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a statement on Telegram. In Russia, online marketplace Ozon has suspended operations in Saratov, southwestern Russia, following a drone strike on a warehouse in the region.
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks drew the U.S. into Afghanistan, the Taliban is seeking a new relationship with Washington built on diplomacy, investment and trade, despite deep divisions between the former enemies.
Saudi Arabia is now facing pressure from both ends of the Arabian Peninsula. While the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting Gulf shipping and energy flows, fighting has intensified in western Yemen, bringing the Houthis back into direct confrontation with the kingdom.
Iran has warned it will retaliate against any future U.S. attacks, saying American energy interests and infrastructure across the Gulf could become targets in a further escalation of the conflict.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States must recognise that the “rules of the game” in its war against Iran had changed “before it is too late”, a day after Washington struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.
An Iranian tanker was hit by U.S. forces on Saturday near Iran's key oil export hub, Kharg Island, in the Gulf, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported.
U.S. efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy through an oil blockade and sanctions are becoming increasingly difficult for Tehran to withstand, according to three senior Iranian sources. Washington is escalating pressure in hopes of securing concessions in future negotiations.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment