Russia and China have vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution seeking to encourage States to coordinate defensive efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
The text was put forward by Gulf countries Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan as Iran continues to assert control of the key energy waterway that has seen costs soaring.
Despite Gulf countries delaying the vote by days in an effort to get a broader consensus from the Council, the draft received 11 votes in favour, two abstentions from Colombia and Pakistan, and the two no votes from China and Russia, which sank the effort.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, who chaired the meeting, says the Council had failed to shoulder its responsibility in relation to what he called Iran’s illegal conduct by constricting passage of commercial shipping through the Straight of Hormuz.
Russia’s envoy Vasily Nebenzia says supporting the text would have set a dangerous precedent while ignoring the root causes of the war, further condemning Israel and the US’s aggression against Iran.
VIDEO | Reporter Sherwin Bryce-Pease shares some of the matters that were taken into consideration in the draft:
