President of the General Assembly Annalena Burbock (left) at a meeting on the use of the veto. Strait of Hormuz crisis: UN General Assembly discusses use of veto power by Russia and China UN
Against the backdrop of a fragile truce between the United States and Iran, the UN General Assembly (GA) is discussing the use of the veto: on April 7, China and Russia blocked a major resolution on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz in the Security Council.
In accordance with the decision of the General Assembly adopted in 2022, each case of the use of the veto by one of the five permanent members of the Security Council is discussed in the Assembly.
GA Chairman Annalena Bärbock said: although the resolution was not adopted in the Security Council, efforts to stabilize the region should not stop.
The General Assembly, Burbock stressed, has the opportunity and responsibility to ensure that discussions on freedom of navigation in the strait “do not end in a veto.”
She added that UN member states must hold the Council accountable and, crucially, remind all parties involved of their obligations under the UN Charter and international law.
“There is nothing theoretical about respecting international law,” Burbock said. “What happens in one region has an echo in all the others.” She stated that attacks on civilian and commercial facilities are unacceptable.
The GA Chair recalled that oil prices have soared by more than 40 percent, and disruptions in the supply of fertilizers have exacerbated food problems for millions of people around the world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its economic growth forecast for 2026 and warned of the possibility of a global recession.
“What we are seeing is not a single crisis, but the confluence of many intersecting and long-standing fault lines that did not begin on February 28,” she said Berbock.
Russia and China, with the support of Pakistan and other countries, will soon submit an alternative draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz to a vote in the Security Council.
Kuwaiti Ambassador Tarek Albanai, speaking at the General Assembly on behalf of Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also stated that these countries will continue to work together to introduce a new draft resolution aimed at ensuring freedom of maritime navigation.