Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution Tuesday on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a text already diluted from the green light Gulf states had sought to use force to protect the key shipping lane.
The draft resolution prepared by Bahrain and supported by the United States received 11 votes in favor, two against and two abstentions. Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said Gulf states “regret” the rejection of the measure.
Iran has imposed an effective blockade on the critical waterway since the United States and the Zionist entity launched the war on February 28, sending ripple effects throughout the global economy.
The vote came hours before US President Donald Trump’s dire ultimatum expires for Tehran to open the strait, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil, or “a whole civilization will die” in Iran.
“Today’s result does not restrict the United States to continue to act in its own self defense and in the collective defense of our allies and partners,” US ambassador Mike Waltz said after the Security Council vote.
Al Zayani, speaking on behalf of the oil-exporting Gulf countries, said the failure to pass the resolution “sends the wrong signal to the world.”
“This signal that the threat to international waterways can pass without any decisive action by the international organization responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security,” he said.
