NEW YORK CITY: The US and Gulf Cooperation Council member countries will move this week to draft a UN Security Council resolution aimed at countering Iran’s actions in international waterways.
The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, told reporters in New York on Monday that the effort followed instructions issued by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and was proceeding in full cooperation with Bahrain and other GCC nations, including Saudi Arabia.
The draft resolution is being co-authored by the US and Bahrain, and jointly developed with Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The stated intention is to deescalate tensions in key maritime corridors, and address the risks to stranded sailors and commercial vessels amid the heightened military activity in the region.
It will seek to hold Iranian authorities accountable for blatant violations of international law, including the laying of sea mines and interference with civilian shipping.
Waltz said the resolution would require Tehran to cease placing mines, stop targeting or attempting to impose tolls on international commercial shipping, and refrain from using international waterways as a source of revenue.
It will call on Iran to immediately disclose the number and locations of mines it has already deployed in international waters, and cooperate with the international community on efforts to remove them.
A central element of the proposed resolution is the establishment of a UN-backed humanitarian corridor to ensure the continuing flow of aid shipments, Waltz added. He noted that more than 80 UN agencies rely on regional maritime routes, as well as logistics hubs such as Dubai’s free trade zones, to deliver life-saving assistance globally, particularly to crisis-affected regions in East Africa.
Washington urges all countries to support the measure regardless of their positions on Iran’s nuclear program, Waltz said, arguing that the issue of maritime security transcends any broader geopolitical disagreements.
“No country can lay mines in international waterways or use them to extract tolls from global shipping,” he said, adding that such actions are unacceptable and illegal under international law.
He stressed that these principles apply to all major global waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca and the Bering Strait.
The initiative is intended to set a clear international precedent, Waltz said, and Washington’s GCC partners are unified in their desire to push the resolution forward. A draft is expected to be introduced and negotiated at the Security Council this week.
