Iran warns UN Security Council on Hormuz
Iran and its allies traded fire with Israel and the United States, as Washington-linked assets across the Middle East were targeted alongside civilian infrastructure — with the month-long war showing little sign of easing
Published: 06:04 PM,Apr 03,2026 | EDITED : 10:04 PM,Apr 03,2026
TEHRAN: Iran warned the UN Security Council against any 'provocative action', ahead of a scheduled vote on a draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz that ended up being postponed.
'Any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN Security Council regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation', Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
Araghchi was speaking ahead of a scheduled Security Council vote on a draft resolution mandating a force to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
It was later announced that the vote was postponed, with no new date scheduled.
The Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane vital to global energy flows, has been all but shut since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
The 15-member body was set to vote on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain on authorising the use of 'defensive' force to protect shipping in Hormuz from Iranian attacks, according to the official programme.
The draft resolution was backed by the US and the Gulf countries hardest hit by the virtual blockade, but member states including Russia, China and France had objected to earlier drafts.
'We cannot accept economic terrorism affecting our region and the world, the whole world is being affected by the developments', Bahrain's United Nations ambassador Jamal al Rowaiei said this week.
He said the text, which has gone through several amendments and is supported by the United States, 'comes at a critical juncture'. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for countries struggling with fuel shortages to 'go get your own oil' in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that US forces would not help them.
A sixth and final draft, seen by AFP, greenlights member states — either unilaterally or as 'voluntary multinational naval partnerships' — to use 'all defensive means necessary and commensurate with the circumstances'. It applies to the strait and adjacent waters to 'secure transit passage and to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz'. The measure would last for a period of at least six months.
The draft resolution has been molded in a bid to rally several countries that have appeared skeptical, including Russia, China and France.
Revised wording no longer explicitly invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows the Security Council to authorise armed force to restore peace.
The latest version also emphasises the defensive nature of any intervention — a stipulation that seems to have alleviated French concerns.
Jerome Bonnafont, France's UN ambassador, said on Thursday that 'it is up to the Council to quickly devise the necessary defensive response' after members voted in March to condemn Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. — AFP