UNSC Standoff: China And Russia Veto Gulf-Backed Maritime Security Resolution

China and Russia vetoed UN Security Council draft resolution tabled in a bid to ensure secured use of Strait of Hormuz for commercial maritime routes. The resolution was backed by Gulf States and tabled by Bahrain. The UNSC vote took place on Tuesday April 7, 2026, the UN disclosed.

Of the 15-member Security Council, 11 voted in favor of the resolution, with two against, and two abstentions. Colombia and Pakistan abstained, while china and Russia vetoed.

“The draft resolution has not been adopted, owing to ⁠the negative vote of a permanent member of the ⁠Council”, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid ⁠Al ​Zayani told ​the Council.

The draft resolution strongly encourages states interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts of a defensive nature to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz, including through the escort of merchant and commercial vessels. It demands that Iran immediately cease all attacks against merchant and commercial vessels and any attempt to impede transit passage or freedom of navigation in the Strait and further calls for the cessation of attacks against civilian infrastructure, including water infrastructure and desalination plants, as well as oil and gas installations.

The resolution was proposed by Bahrain in close coordination with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These Gulf countries participated in today’s session along the 15 UNSC members.

Bahrain initially proposed the draft resolution mid-march but voting delayed following disagreements among UNSC members.

Today’s vote follows multiple rounds of negotiations, and occurs against a backdrop of regional escalation in the wake of military action commenced by Israel and the United States against Iran since end of February. The Council has since been briefed on spillover effects in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

Bahrain circulated the zero draft resolution to Council members on 21 March and held multiple rounds of negotiations. Following five subsequent revisions, two silence breaks, and closed consultations on April 1 (held at France’s request), a sixth revised draft was finally put in blue on 6 April.

The initial draft text proposed by Bahrain invoked Chapter VII of the UN Charter and would have authorized member states, acting nationally or through voluntary multinational naval partnerships, to use all necessary means in and around the Strait of Hormuz to secure transit passage and repress, neutralize, and deter attempts to close, obstruct, or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait, until such time as the Council decides otherwise. The text also expressed the Council’s readiness to impose measures, including targeted sanctions, against those who take actions to undermine the freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

These provisions apparently proved problematic for several Council members, prompting efforts to streamline the text to enhance clarity and narrow its scope. It appears that concerns focused in particular on the reference to Chapter VII and the authorization of the use of force, as well as the breadth of the mandate, including its nature, geographic scope, and open-ended duration. Positions diverged, with some European and like-minded members seeking clearer parameters and more precise drafting, while others, notably China and Russia, were more fundamentally critical of the initiative.

China and Russia expressed concerns about the invocation of Chapter VII, arguing that such authorization could be interpreted as legitimizing the use of force by member states without clearly defined limits. They also raised concerns about the potential imposition of sanctions and maintained that the draft failed to address the root causes of the current crisis in the Middle East. In their view, the text risked exacerbating tensions rather than promoting de-escalation, and they urged Bahrain not to advance the initiative. These reservations led China and Russia to break silence twice.

Responding to these concerns, Bahrain removed the explicit reference to Chapter VII in the third revised draft. However, the authorization for the use of force and a determination that Iran’s actions near and around the Strait of Hormuz constitute a threat to international peace and security were retained. China and Russia argued that this did not address their concerns, maintaining that the draft continued to legitimize the use of force without accounting for the underlying causes of the escalation. The current draft resolution in blue does not include an explicit reference to Chapter VII and retains the determination regarding Iran’s actions as threats to international peace and security.

Additionally, the reference to sanctions measures was amended based on proposals from Colombia and the UK. The current draft text in blue therefore expresses the Council’s readiness to consider further measures, as appropriate, against those who take actions that undermine the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.