UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council is negotiating on a draft resolution, introduced by Bahrain, to authorise states to use “all necessary means” to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, diplomatic sources said on Monday.

The Iranian foreign ministry, however, said the Strait of Hormuz is “not blocked”, adding that the vessels “belonging to the aggressor parties cannot be considered normal” amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Normally, about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass through the Strait. Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers have made it through the Strait since Iran effectively blocked it in response to US-Israeli attacks on the country that began three weeks ago.

The draft text demands that Iran “immediately cease all attacks against merchant and commercial vessels and any attempt to impede lawful transit passage or freedom of navigation” in and around the Strait.

The resolution text could be modified during the negotiations among member states in the 15-member council, the UN’s highest decision-making body. Its chances of approval by the council, where the five permanent members have veto power, remain unclear.

The draft resolution proposes allowing member states “to use all necessary means” — including within the territorial waters of littoral states within or bordering the Strait — “to secure transit passage and to repress, neutralize and deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with navigation” there.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2026