The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution on Wednesday demanding that Iran immediately stop its attacks on Gulf states, sparking outrage in Tehran, according to AFP. The vote came after weeks of heightened tension following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.
Approved by 13 members with China and Russia abstaining, the resolution called for “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 condemned Iranian threats to block or disrupt navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that carries nearly a fifth of the world’s oil shipments.
Bahrain’s UN ambassador, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, who introduced the resolution with support from 135 nations, said the measure underscored the Gulf’s vital role in global trade and energy security. “Ensuring the safety of this region,” he told the Council, “is not only a regional duty but a global responsibility linked to the stability of the world economy.”
Still, the resolution angered Iran and its allies. Tehran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, dismissed the measure as a “blatant misuse” of the Security Council’s authority, accusing the United States and Israel of manipulating international institutions to serve their own agendas. “This resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of aggression,” Iravani declared.
The United States, a strong backer of the resolution, hailed the vote as a global rebuke of Iran’s actions. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz said, “Iran’s strategy of sowing chaos and threatening its neighbors has backfired. Today’s vote shows the world is standing firm against its campaign of fear.”
As tensions mount in the Gulf, the UNSC’s call highlights deep divisions between world powers and the growing fear that conflict at sea could spill into a broader regional crisis.
