Russia and China Veto UN Resolution on Strait of Hormuz as Trump Warns of Catastrophic Strike…reports Asian Lite News
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, sinking a measure that had already been watered down in an unsuccessful bid to secure their abstentions.
The 15-member council voted 11 in favour and two against, with Pakistan and Colombia abstaining. The resolution, proposed by Bahrain in close coordination with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council members Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Jordan, had demanded that Iran immediately halt all attacks on merchant and commercial vessels and cease any effort to obstruct navigation through the Strait. It also called for an end to strikes on civilian infrastructure, including water facilities, desalination plants, and oil and gas installations.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani expressed disappointment at the outcome, warning that the Council’s failure sent a troubling message to the world. “Threats to international waterways can pass without any decisive action by the international community,” he said.
Moscow dismissed the resolution as a “fundamentally erroneous and dangerous approach,” with Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia criticising the text for making no reference to what he called “illegal attacks” by the United States and Israel on Iran. Beijing echoed those objections, with Ambassador Fu Cong arguing that the draft “failed to capture the root causes and the full picture of the conflict in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” and cautioning against rushing to a vote when serious concerns remained on the table.
The United States pushed back sharply. Ambassador Michael Waltz declared that Washington stands with the people of the Gulf, accusing China and Russia of siding “with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission.” He added that the Strait of Hormuz was “too vital to the world to be used as a hostage, to be choked, to be weaponised by any one State.”
The vote came amid an escalating crisis and a series of incendiary posts by US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform, which signalled a potential shift in the geopolitical landscape. Trump warned of catastrophic consequences while hinting at a change of power in Tehran. “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” he wrote, as reports emerged of US strikes on Kharg Island and other key Iranian infrastructure.
The President closed his message with a note of support for ordinary Iranians: “God Bless the Great People of Iran!” The world now watches as an 8:00 PM Eastern Time deadline looms over an increasingly volatile standoff.
