UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned by restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz and has called for the full restoration of international navigational rights and freedom of navigation, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric has said, Al Jazeera reports.

Dujarric said there had been “a lot of activity” and “a lot of confusion” over the status of the strategic waterway, adding that Guterres was concerned by maritime incidents over the last 48 hours and stressed that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz “needs to be respected by all parties”.

The spokesperson also reiterated the UN’s position that “there is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of pain on a civilian population”.

Noting the hikes in prices of oil, fertiliser and urea as a result of the blockade, Dujarric said, “All of that is having an impact on, first of all, on UN agencies, on their capacity to plan and buy.”