Russia and China Have Just Vetoed UN Security Council Resolution to Force Iran to Open Strait of Hormuz

BREAKING! Russia and China Have Just Vetoed UN Security Council Resolution to Force Iran to Open Strait of Hormuz

There were 11 of the 15 members of the Security Council that voted for it, and two abstained – Pakistan and Colombia.

So, with the 11 votes, it would have received the nine minimum votes to pass.

However, China and Russia – being two of the permanent members of the council – have their veto power, and they decided to use it – essentially killing the resolution.

This resolution initially called for Article 7, which would have given member states authorisation to use force to open up the Strait of Hormuz. Russia and China were very much against that. That’s why negotiations went on for so long, and the language was changed.

Ultimately, what was voted on today was a version that strongly encouraged states interested in the use of the Strait of Hormuz for commercial maritime routes to coordinate efforts in a defensive manner. That’s much different from using force.

Bahrain was hoping that this would be enough to get Russia and China at least to abstain and allow this resolution to pass.