Gharibabadi: U.S. draft proposal on Hormuz Strait is an attempt to alter nature of issue

Pars Today – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs said that the U.S. effort, along with some of its regional allies, to introduce a draft proposal regarding the Strait of Hormuz at the Security Council reflects a new attempt to alter the nature of the issue.

According to Pars Today, Kazem Gharibabadi wrote in a message published on his social media page: “The effort by the United States and some of its regional partners to put forward a draft concerning the Strait of Hormuz at the Security Council is a new attempt to shift the focus of the issue; transforming the consequences of a military aggression and illegal blockade into a case against a country that has itself been subjected to threats, pressure, and attack.”

Gharibabadi added in his message: “‘Freedom of navigation’ is a respected legal principle; however, it cannot be interpreted selectively, politically, and separately from the United Nations Charter. No initiative regarding maritime security in this region can ignore the use of force, naval blockade, ongoing threats, and the direct role of the United States and the Zionist regime in creating the crisis, while simultaneously claiming neutrality or legal legitimacy.”

He wrote that some governments are attempting to rewrite the consequences of their unlawful actions in the language of the “international order.” Such an approach contributes neither to reducing tensions, nor to maritime security, nor to the credibility of multilateral mechanisms.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister emphasized: “Any text that seeks to frame the situation in the Strait of Hormuz without referring to aggression, blockade, threats of force, and Iran’s legitimate rights to defend its security and vital interests will, from the outset, be incomplete, biased, political, and doomed to fail.”