Multiple news outlets reported on Monday afternoon that the nation of Bahrain is working on a draft United Nations resolution greenlighting countries using “all necessary means” to stop Iran from blocking commerce in the Strait of Hormuz.
The government of Bahrain has not publicly commented on the alleged draft, nor has any other country, at press time. Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that they were privy to a copy of the draft, which they reported that Bahrain was circulating in the U.N. Security Council, the most powerful U.N. body. The use of the language “all necessary means” indicates that such a resolution would approve of military action against the Iranian terror state in defense of global commerce. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to attack civilian vessels in the Strait, or potentially mine the pivotal maritime route, in response to an ongoing American military campaign to disable Tehran’s ability to engage in global terrorism.
The Jerusalem Post published several excerpts from the alleged draft resolution that Bahrain is working to introduce.
“We are determining that Iran’s actions near and around the Strait of Hormuz, including its recurring threats and attacks on commercial and merchant vessels, and actions impeding the freedom of navigation, constitute a threat to international peace and security,” the text reportedly reads.
“The Security Council authorizes Member States, acting nationally or through voluntary multinational naval partnerships, for which advance notification has been provided to the Security Council,” the text reportedly continues, “to use all necessary means, in and around the Strait of Hormuz … to secure transit passage and to repress, neutralize, and deter attempts to close, obstruct, or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The text would approve such action indefinitely until the Security Council deems it appropriate to withdraw approval.
Reuters, which also reported that it had seen a copy of the resolution, noted that the “all necessary means” text extended beyond the Strait to “territorial waters of littoral states” and insisted that Iran “immediately cease all attacks against merchant and commercial vessels and any attempt to impede lawful transit passage or freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz.”
“Diplomats said the draft text was backed by other Gulf Arab states and the United States, although they said it was unlikely to succeed,” Reuters added.
The Security Council would require nine of its 15 members to vote “yes” on the resolution for it to pass — and none of the five permanent members to vote “no.” While the United States, France, and the United Kingdom could potentially approve such a measure, the odds of China and Russia, close allies of Iran, approving such a document are limited.
Notably, however, China and Russia abstained without vetoing during the last round of votes at the Security Council regarding Iran’s belligerence against its neighbors. On March 11, the Council approved a resolution condemning Iran for shooting missiles and conducting drone strikes against over a dozen countries, including several of its Arab Gulf neighbor states. Bahrain also drafted the text of that resolution, which called Iran’s attacks “egregious” and “deplorable” and demanded that they stop. All Council countries, save for China and Russia who abstained, approved the text.
The resolution was notable as it condemned Iran without also condemning America and Israel for their actions against Iran. The current hostilities began on February 28, when President Donald Trump announced “Operation Epic Fury,” a U.S. military engagement to disable the threat that Iran poses to its neighbors and the United States. Iran is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, enabling and bankrolling groups such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hamas, and Shiite terror militias in Iraq, among others. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have joined in operations targeting Iran’s leadership alongside Washington.
In response to these attacks, Iran has launched missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Cyprus, among other countries. Iranian leaders first claimed they were only targeting American military assets in these states and denied the more controversial strikes, such as in Azerbaijan, though they later admitted they were targeting tourist and other civilian sites.
Iranian leaders have also transparently threatened the disruption of commercial trade in the Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices skyrocketing. Lawmakers in Iran’s rubber-stamp parliament and the absentee “supreme leader” of the country, Mojtaba Khamenei, have both suggested measures to disrupt trade in the Strait of Hormuz, either violently or through exploitative tolls. Some reports have indicated that Iran could potentially mine the strait, an environmental and economic catastrophe.
In response to the threat, the government of Saudi Arabia called a summit last week inviting the foreign ministers of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Syria, Azerbaijan, and Lebanon. The group issued a joint statement in which they “affirmed their condemnation and denunciation of these Iranian deliberate attacks with ballistic missiles and drones which targeted residential areas, civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic premises.”
“What little trust there was before has completely been shattered,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, said at the event. “So when this war eventually ends, in order for there to be any rebuilding of trust, it will take a long time.”
Saudi Arabia and Iran had normalized their relations through Chinese mediation in 2023. The Saudi government demanded the exit of Iranian diplomats from the country this weekend.
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