China and Russia have vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The draft resolution, sponsored by Bahrain, failed on Tuesday despite receiving 11 votes in favour. China and Russia voted against the text. Pakistan and Colombia abstained.
The resolution would have encouraged nations to coordinate defensive efforts to protect commercial shipping in the strait. Earlier versions of the draft had been watered down in an attempt to secure Russian and Chinese abstentions. The initial proposal would have authorised nations to use “all necessary means” to keep the waterway open, a phrase that typically allows military action. That language was removed following objections from China, France and Russia.
Chinese ambassador Fu Cong said the resolution was “highly susceptible to misinterpretation or even abuse”. He argued that passing the text would send a wrong message and have serious consequences. Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the draft “fundamentally erroneous”, saying it ignored attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran. Beijing and Moscow immediately circulated an alternative resolution that calls for de‑escalation and a return to diplomacy.
The United States reacted sharply. US ambassador Mike Waltz said the vetoes marked “a new low” at a time when Iran’s closure of the strait was blocking medical aid to Congo, Sudan and Gaza. “No one should tolerate that,” Waltz said. “They are holding the global economy at gunpoint. But today, Russia and China did tolerate it.” He called on “responsible nations” to join the United States in securing the waterway.
France also criticised the veto. French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said the resolution’s aim was “strictly, purely defensive” and intended to improve safety without pushing the situation into a more dangerous spiral.
Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, said the failure to adopt the resolution sends “the wrong signal to the world”. He warned that threats to international waterways could now pass without decisive action by the international body responsible for peace and security. Gulf states, he added, will intensify diplomatic efforts to safeguard freedom of navigation.
Iran welcomed the outcome. Iranian ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani thanked Beijing and Moscow for preventing what he called an attempt to misuse the Security Council to legitimise aggression. Iravani said the text unjustifiably portrayed Iran’s lawful measures as threats to international peace and security. He added that the UN secretary‑general’s personal envoy was on his way to Tehran for consultations.
The vote took place against a backdrop of escalating conflict. The United States and Israel struck Iran at the end of February. The war is now in its sixth week. Tehran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that previously carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil prices have jumped sharply since the fighting began.
President Donald Trump had set a Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to reopen the strait, warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran refused. Less than two hours before the deadline, Trump pulled back the threat. He said he would suspend any attack for two weeks provided Iran agreed to a ceasefire and reopened the strait. Iran accepted the two‑week ceasefire and said passage during that period would be allowed under Iranian military management.