UN Security Council Calls for Urgent, Unconditional reopening of Strait of Hormuz

By R Anil Kumar

New York/ Bengaluru, April 27, 2026. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said that ensuring the security of global waterways has become a fundamental test for the current international system, stressing that their stability is a cornerstone of global security and peace.

This came during his speech on Monday, April 27, at the UN Security Council open debate titled, “The safety and protection of waterways in the maritime domain,” convened at the invitation of Bahrain, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council this month.

Maritime routes have historically been vital arteries for global trade and energy flows among continents, said Guterres, yet today they face increasing pressure due to rising piracy, armed robbery, and terrorist acts targeting commercial vessels.

The UN Secretary-General noted that geopolitical tensions are casting a shadow over the maritime environment, with commercial shipping being exploited as a tool of political pressure, undermining internationally guaranteed navigation rights.

In a joint statement issued at the end of the Security Council session, participating countries renewed their call for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The statement affirmed support for Security Council Resolution 2817 and condemned Iranian actions, including the closure of the strait and attacks on neighbouring countries.

It stressed that closing the strait has sent Shockwaves through energy markets and supply chains far beyond the region, particularly affecting fragile economies and populations suffering from food insecurity.

Read by Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani before the Council, the statement rejected any attempt to impose fees or restrict passage through the strait, describing such measures as violations of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

All the Participating Countries voiced that the world’s critical waterways are not bargaining chips that belong to any one country.

And, now, maritime transit routes which are truly the arteries of global commerce that roughly 80 percent of global trade by volume moves through such waterways. They are too vital, they are too important to all of us collectively as a global community to be choked off, to be mined, to be weaponized, to be attacked like two-bit pirates—because when they are, the entire world pays the price.

And the world is paying—most countries —they are paying for Iran’s hostage-taking gambit in the Strait of Hormuz.

So, let’s take a moment and look at the numbers. The Strait of Hormuz typically sees 20 million barrels of oil per day, 40,000 vessels per year. And whether they are bound to heat homes in East Asia or nourish crops in Central Africa, they have 20% of global oil and liquified natural gas (LNG)—15% of the world’s fertilizer, they all transit the Strait. And closer to home, it’s responsible for 75% of our Gulf states partners’ economic output and over 50% of the broader region’s food.

It is absolutely clear, it’s unambiguous, that as a matter of international law, this Strait is not—despite Iran’s Foreign Minister’s claims—this Strait is not Iran’s to wield like its own moat and drawbridge. It is not Iran’s hostage, it is not Iran’s bargaining chip, it is not Iran’s toll road. And that’s what over 100 countries right outside these doors just testified in one of the most supported press conferences in recent years—This is not for Iran to play with like some type of bargaining chip, because of its illegal nuclear aspirations.

Less than three weeks ago, the world came together to counter this threat to maritime security. The Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2817 with a record-setting 136 co-sponsors, demanding that Iran cease its egregious attacks against its neighbouring states—regardless of what you feel about the ongoing conflict it has chosen to shoot in all directions against its neighbours’ civilian infrastructures. And the entire world condemned the obstruction of freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has done nothing but act in defiance of that resolution. Forty days and counting, they have laid sea mines, they have fired on civilian ships.But it’s used the Strait also to launch thousands of missiles at Gulf capitals—their hospitals, their airports, their hotels, their neighbourhoods. They have threatened to charge tolls—otherwise known as bribes—to allow ships to pass through the Strait.

And even while under this type of assault, this type of fire, thousands of drones and missiles pouring in, Bahrain and a coalition of Gulf states put forward another resolution to protect the freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Straits of Hormuz.

But unfortunately, two countries—China and Russia—vetoed this resolution and chose a radical religious regime for its partner, and ignored not only the plight of our Gulf countries, but the global economy. They chose to shield the Iranian regime from a common-sense measure. And they chose to turn a blind eye against Iran’s assault on the freedom of navigation—which is hard to make sense of given it’s the economies of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa that are most affected by this illegal assault on shipping.

So, unfortunately these two countries have put their own economic interests ahead of international obligations. Their companies and citizens supported the Iran-backed Houthis in addition in waging a two-year campaign of terror against shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which—before this crisis—was one of the most disruptive assaults on maritime commerce in recent history.

Ultimately,this Council must hold the Iranian regime to account for this blatant and recurring violations of international law: violations of the UN Charter, violations of binding Security Council sanctions, and violations of other measures that were snapped back into place in September, violations of its own non-proliferation obligations—as we just had a non-proliferation gathering here in the General Assembly—violations of its obligations under the law of the sea, violations of the laws of war, violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

But we need to broaden this effort. Now is a time for a coalition of like-minded partners to step up and step in with real capabilities and help. We need for commercial shipping, for maritime finance and insurance, for humanitarian aid agencies, over 80 of which move their humanitarian supplies though this Strait for lifesaving aid—in addition to the military assets—to come together in a coalition for maritime freedom.

We’ve come together before, we came together in CTF-151 to deal with piracy off East Africa in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. The United Nations was built for times like this. We have been here before. We have allowed unchecked regimes and nonstate actors to loudly tiptoe towards horrors against their neighbours, while much of the rest of the world sat back and watched.

Now is not the time for simple words. Now is the time to act. And we call upon the world to join us in maintaining and defending the freedom of navigation for the entire world’s economy.