China and Russia veto UN resolution on protecting Hormuz shipping
The 15-member Security Council voted 11 in favour of the resolution presented by Bahrain, with two against - China and Russia - and two abstentions
Highlights:
- Draft vetoed even though it had been greatly watered down
- Vetoes follow Trump's warnings to Iran
- Eleven of the 15-member Security Council voted in favour
- Russians and Chinese say text was biased
- China says UNSC actions should not 'add fuel to fire'
China and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a UN resolution encouraging states to coordinate efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the measure biased against Iran, while Washington's ambassador to the world body called on "responsible nations" to join the US in securing the waterway.
The 15-member Security Council voted 11 in favour of the resolution presented by Bahrain, with two against - China and Russia - and two abstentions.
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US President Donald Trump threatened that "a whole civilization will die tonight" as Iran showed no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, Washington time.
Oil prices have surged since the US and Israel struck Iran at the end of February, unleashing a conflict that has run for more than five weeks while Tehran has largely closed the strait that was previously the route for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
"The draft resolution has not been adopted, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the Council," Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said.
US ambassador condemns the vetoes
The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, condemned the Russian and Chinese vetoes, saying they marked "a new low" when Iran's shutting of the strait was preventing medical aid and supplies reaching humanitarian crises in the Congo, Sudan and Gaza.
"No one should tolerate that. They are holding the global economy at gunpoint. But today, Russia and China did tolerate it. They sided with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission, even as it brutalises its own people."
Waltz said Iran could choose "to reopen the strait, to seek peace and to make amends."
He added, "But until then and afterwards, we call on responsible nations to join us in securing the Strait of Hormuz, protecting it, ensuring that it remains open to lawful commerce, to humanitarian goods, and the free movement of the world's goods."
France deplored the vetoes.
"The aim was to encourage strictly, purely defensive measures to provide the security and safety for the strait without spiralling towards escalation," its UN ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, said.
Russians and Chinese say text was biased
Russia and China said the resolution was biased against Iran, and China's UN envoy Fu Cong said adopting such a draft when the US was threatening the survival of a civilization would have sent the wrong message.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Russia and China were proposing an alternative resolution on the situation in the Middle East, including maritime security.
A text of that resolution seen by Reuters urges "de-escalation of the ongoing hostilities" and "a return to the path of diplomacy."
At a regular news briefing on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry said that the Security Council should act to ease tensions, stop the conflict and resume talks.
"It should not be used to endorse illegal acts of war, let alone add fuel to the flame," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said when asked about the UN resolution.
Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani praised the Chinese and Russian moves, saying "their action today prevented the Security Council from being misused to legitimise aggression."
Iravani added that the UN secretary-general's personal envoy was en route to Tehran to pursue consultations. A UN source said the envoy, Jean Arnault, who left for the Middle East on Monday, intends to visit Iran as part of his efforts to encourage an end to the war, but his travel plans would depend on security and logistics.
China and Russia used their vetoes even though Bahrain had significantly weakened its draft after China opposed authorising force.
The draft submitted to a vote dropped any authorisation of the use of force. An explicit reference to binding enforcement, included in an earlier draft, was also left out.
Instead the text strongly encouraged states "to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate to the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz."
It also said such contributions could include "the escort of merchant and commercial vessels," and endorsed efforts "to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz."
