Overview
- The Security Council, which voted Tuesday, failed to adopt Bahrain’s bid to back defensive shipping escorts after Russia and China cast vetoes in an 11-2-2 tally.
- The text had been pared back from authorizing “all necessary means” to only urging defensive coordination and ship escorts, with any explicit Council authorization stripped out.
- The vote came hours before President Donald Trump’s 8 p.m. ET deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway, a demand he reinforced with threats to hit power plants and bridges.
- Iran has restricted the Strait since Feb. 28, disrupting a route that carries about one-fifth of seaborne oil and allowing limited transits for vessels linked to countries it deems friendly, including China, Russia, India and Pakistan.
- Gulf states and the United States said the vetoes leave global trade exposed, while Russia and China argued the draft ignored the conflict’s origins; a Bahrain-led measure condemning Iran passed on March 11 after both abstained.