UN's Latest Hormuz Vote: A Shameful Moment for the World
By Nick AramaWe've been tracking that United Nations Security Council resolution that Bahrain had been trying to get passed.
Originally, the wording called to authorize opening the Strait by all means necessary.
"[A]uthorizes member States, acting nationally or through voluntary multinational naval partnerships, with advance notifications to the Security Council,” to use all necessary means “to secure transit passage and to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
That would have allowed the use of force. Gee, maybe when a terrorist regime is trying to hold up the economy of a lot of the world to get its way, that might be a good idea?
As we reported at the end of last week, three nations — Russia, China, and our "ally" France — blocked the resolution.
So then they watered down the resolution significantly, in an attempt to get Russia and China to abstain rather than veto it.
The vetoed resolution, which was introduced by Bahrain, "strongly encourages states interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate with the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz."
The resolution also demanded that Iran immediately halt attacks on merchant and commercial vessels and stop impeding their freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian infrastructure.
It only spoke about defending themselves, but two permanent members of the Council, Russia and China, still vetoed it. So that strikes it down.
Voting detail:
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) April 7, 2026
In favor (11): Bahrain; DR Congo; Denmark; France; Greece; Latvia; Liberia; Panama; Somalia; United Kingdom; United States
Against (2): China; Russia
Abstentions (2): Colombia; Pakistan
votes like this are why:
— Polyticks Unlimited (@PoliUnLimited) April 7, 2026
- Iran got so close to a nuke in the first place
- why trump is right not to defer to the UN for situations like this
- why we need leaders like Trump who act in the interest of their own country and use common sense
France did flip back once it was watered down.
The resolution received 11 votes in favor and two against, with abstentions from Pakistan and Colombia.
"No one should tolerate that they are holding the global economy at gunpoint, but today, Russia and China did tolerate," U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz said Tuesday. "They sided with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission, even as it brutalizes its own people during a national internet blackout for daring to imagine dignity or freedom."
"Failing to adopt this resolution sends the wrong signal to the world, to the people of the world — the 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," Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, added following the vote.
That's exactly right.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) declares that when it comes to straits like the Strait of Hormuz that are used for international navigation, all ships are guaranteed transit passage. Iran is not allowed to block their passage. Yet they have caused trouble over it for years, and what does UNCLOS mean if you're not willing to enforce what you say? Protecting it is for the benefit of the world, so the world is not to be held over a barrel like this, yet here they go, exactly allowing themselves to be run over.
The signal sent to Iran from this is that they're not going to be held accountable by the world, no matter what trouble they cause or how they hurt their neighbors. They can do what they want and seize control.
Can we talk again about how useless the U.N. is?
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