UN Security Council demands Iran halt attacks on Gulf states

The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for Iran to halt its attacks on Gulf states, in a resolution that did not mention US or Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran’s ambassador to decry a “blatant misuse” of the international body.

The resolution, passed by 13 votes with two abstentions, “demands the immediate cessation of all attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.”

It also “condemns any actions or threats by the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran has repeatedly struck Gulf states in retaliation to US-Israeli attacks that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and continue to pummel Iranian sites.

The Islamic Republic has also fired on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea passage for the global fuel trade, in a bid to inflict pain on the global economy.

Among the most recent attacks, four people were wounded after two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, though flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said. On Thursday, Dubai authorities said a drone fell on a building near Dubai Creek Harbor, a luxury waterfront development.

At Oman’s Port of Salalah, firefighters battled a blaze at fuel storage tanks after days of Iranian attacks, according to the Oman News Agency, while in Bahrain the ministry of interior said Iranian-linked attacks targeted fuel tanks at a facility in Muharraq Governorate, northeast of the country’s capital, Manama.

“Authorities are taking the required procedures,” the ministry said.

Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, the UN ambassador of Bahrain, which introduced the UN Security Council resolution sponsored by 135 countries, said its passing reflected the Gulf’s key role in the global economy.

“This is why ensuring the security of this region is not merely a regional matter, it is a common international responsibility that is closely linked to the stability of the global economy and energy security,” Alrowaiei told the Security Council.

“The international community is resolute in rejecting these Iranian attacks against sovereign countries that are threatening the stability of the peoples, especially in a region of strategic importance to global economy, energy, security and security of global trade.”

Veto-holders China and Russia both abstained from the Security Council vote, allowing it to pass by not exercising their vetoes. Their UN ambassadors called the proposal “extremely unbalanced” in not mentioning the strikes against their ally Tehran that began the war.

Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said adoption of the text represented a “blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate in pursuit of the political agendas” of the United States and Israel.

“Let me make it clear, this resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression,” he said.

The United States, which backed the text, said its adoption reflected a broad condemnation of Iranian strikes.

“Iran’s strategy of sowing chaos, of trying to hold their neighbors hostage, trying to shake the resolve of the region, has clearly backfired, as shown by this vote today,” said US Ambassador Mike Waltz.