GOVERNMENTS lined up at the United Nations Security Council on Monday to demand the Strait of Hormuz be reopened fully and unconditionally, warning that critical waterways cannot be mined, weaponised, subjected to tolls or used as leverage.

But the UN debate exposed wider geopolitical divisions over maritime security, as diplomats traded accusations over attacks on commercial shipping and the basic assumption of freedom of navigation. 

Accusing Iran of behaving like “two-bit pirates”, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the world was now “paying for Iran’s hostage-taking gambit in the Strait of Hormuz”.

“It is absolutely clear, it’s unambiguous, that as a matter of international law, this strait is not — despite Iran’s foreign minister’s claims — this strait is not Iran’s to wield like its own moat and drawbridge. It is not Iran’s hostage, it is not Iran’s bargaining chip, it is not Iran’s toll road,” said Waltz.

Iran responded in kind, accusing the US of “acting like pirates and terrorists, targeting commercial vessels through coercion and intimidation, terrorising their crews, unlawfully seizing ships, and taking crew members hostage”.

The robust exchange of accusations between Washington and Tehran largely served to reiterate pre-existing claims and counter claims from the two states, but the UN debate also exposed hardening positions from Russia and China on the topic of Hormuz.

While China’s President Xi Jinping has previously called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, China has to date remained publicly on the sidelines of the Hormuz issue.

During the UN debate, however, China’s UN ambassador, Fu Cong, explicitly called out the US as “the root cause” of the current crisis, describing the US blockade and “the illegal military actions launched by the US and Israel against Iran” as being “dangerous and irresponsible behaviour”.

Russia similarly pointed the finger of blame at the US and Israel but opted to use the debate as a platform to attack European sanctions targeting Russia’s exports.

These were, the words of Russia’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, “merely a fig leaf to hide the fact that the EU is engaged in outright banditry at sea”.

“Actions by the EU countries that trample upon the norms of international maritime law could trigger a ‘domino effect’, putting on hold the entire global maritime trade system,” said Nebenzia, adding that “the engagement of Nato naval forces for the detention of vessels leads directly to military escalation”.

South China Sea tensions

The debate also exposed wider geopolitical divisions over maritime security, as China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea, accusing Tokyo of provocative behaviour in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion.

Japan’s vice-foreign minister Ayano Kunimitsu told the council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China Seas and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the status quo by force and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight.

The EU delegation also highlighted South China Sea tensions during the debate, saying they hindered a critical shipping route and challenged the rules-based international order.

Neither mentioned China — which claims most of the South China Sea and disputes territory with Japan and in the East China Sea — by name, but the comments were enough to prompt a response from the Chinese delegation.

China’s deputy UN ambassador Sun Lei called the Japanese remarks “unwarranted,” saying they “completely confound black and white”. He added that the EU representative should “refrain from issuing unsubstantiated and irresponsible remarks on the South China Sea issue”.

China has embarked on a massive expansion of its armed forces in recent years, militarised disputed reefs in the South China Sea, and engaged in repeated large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, sparking concern among countries across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Several maritime and trading nations underscored that the crisis carried consequences far beyond the Strait of Hormuz, warning that threats to critical waterways could reverberate across global commerce.

“The map of global insecurity is being increasingly drawn at sea,” said Liberia’s representative, also adding that the growing interference with commercial shipping is not incidental, it is strategic. Echoing many other speakers, he said: “That is dangerous; when stability is negotiable, the smallest economies pay the highest price.”

“Freedom of navigation must be restored, in line with international law,” said UK minister Steven Doughty.

“Shipping and seafarers must not be used as leverage, and there is no place for tolls or permissions in international straits.

“Freedom of navigation means navigation must be free.”