A draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz has gained 112 co-sponsors, according to diplomatic sources, underscoring the breadth of global concern over the closure of one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
The resolution, tabled by Bahrain and the United States, seeks to protect international waterways, commercial shipping and energy supplies, and to ensure the safety of seafarers, the sources told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
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It also calls for an end to Iranian attacks on its Gulf neighbours.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have joined Manama and Washington as principal sponsors, while India, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, Argentina and most member states of the European Union have also signed on, the sources said.
“The list takes up three full pages,” said Al Jazeera’s correspondent in New York, Gabriel Elizondo. “It’s essentially being co-sponsored by two-thirds of all 193 UN member states.”
It is the second such resolution Bahrain has put before the council. The first, tabled last month, was vetoed by China and Russia. Both countries have voiced reservations about the new draft, though it remains unclear whether they intend to veto again should it come to a vote.
No date has been set for a vote.
The diplomatic push comes as peace negotiations between Iran and the US remain deadlocked. The US is demanding that Iran dismantle its nuclear programme and lift its restrictions on the strait. Iran has countered with calls for war reparations, an end to the US naval blockade of its ports and a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where US ally Israel is fighting Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Iran has also insisted that any settlement recognise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, a demand Washington has described as unacceptable.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the US on Tuesday of seeking capitulation rather than peace. “True peace cannot be built with the language of humiliation, threat, and forced concession-taking,” he wrote on X.
Iran’s demands, he said, represented “not maximum demands” but “the minimum requirements for any serious, sustainable arrangement”.
Regional powers are also intensifying their diplomatic efforts. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan travelled to Doha on Tuesday for talks with Qatari leaders, warning that the strait must not be used as a weapon.
“All the world’s states are now feeling the brunt of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, calling for an agreement to reopen the waterway to free passage.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani warned against a return to fighting and urged support for Pakistan’s mediation efforts. “We do not support the resumption of war,” he said. “The role Pakistan is playing is very important and critical for the entire region and for the world.”
The diplomatic activity coincides with Trump’s state visit to Beijing, where the war with Iran is expected to feature in his discussions with President Xi Jinping.
China, a close ally of Tehran and by far its largest oil customer, has so far avoided direct involvement in the conflict while maintaining its commercial ties with Iran.
Trump’s three-day visit to Beijing comes at a fraught time for the US president.
His approval ratings have been dragged down by the protracted war on Iran and a surge in inflation, which economists attribute in part to the disruption of global energy supplies.
But before boarding Air Force One, Trump said the financial struggles of Americans were not a factor in his decision-making in the negotiations to end the war on Iran.
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody,” he said. “I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all. That’s the only thing that motivates me.”
