Iran can continue handling the Strait of Hormuz as it wishes. This is the position for now, following a meeting of UN Security Council members yesterday, Tuesday, 8th.
Recently, Bahrain, a sovereign Arab island in the Persian Gulf, presented a proposal to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to compel Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels.
Two of the UNSC member states abstained from voting, while 11 of them voted in favor of the proposal. However, despite the majority vote, the proposal could not become a resolution because it was vetoed.
UN Members with Veto Power
Among the 15 UNSC members, five have veto power. This means that any one of them can block a potential resolution by voting against the proposal. The five members with veto power are the US, UK, China, Russia, and France.
This time, Russia and China exercised their veto power and voted against the draft. Earlier, members had made numerous changes to the draft in an attempt to make it more acceptable to all. Despite the final draft being a watered-down version of the original, Russia and China still found it unfair to Iran.
The US appeared to be the most disappointed of all members, with the US ambassador to the UN castigating China and Russia for vetoing the proposal.
The Substance of the Draft Proposal
If the majority of UNSC members had voted in favor of the proposal and there had been no veto, the member states would have assumed responsibility for supervising activity in the Strait of Hormuz. For example, they would have had to contribute to defensive military services to facilitate the safe passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Why Russia and China Vetoed the Draft Proposal
According to Russia and China, members of the UNSC have ignored the root cause of the Hormuz problem. Instead of focusing on the economic suffering caused by the strait’s closure, the two countries would rather have UNSC members focus on the developments that led to the waterway’s closure in the first place.
As far as China and Russia are concerned, passing a resolution to arm-twist Iran would be unjust to Iran, which is only trying to defend itself against an aggressor. The two countries also say it would be a risky legal precedent, making light of countries’ use of force against others.