The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday decisively adopted a Bahraini-led resolution condemning Iran’s regional attacks and rejected a Russian proposal seeking an end to the conflict without identifying the parties.
These votes occurred as U.S. and Israeli forces continued bombarding Iran for a 12th day, with Iranian retaliation reverberating throughout the Middle East.
“I speak to you now while sirens are sounding,” Bahrain’s representative to the U.N., Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, told the council, decrying the loss of civilian lives and infrastructure in countries he said posed no threat to Iran.
Thirteen out of the 15 member countries of the Security Council, including the United States, Britain and France, supported Bahrain’s resolution, proposed on behalf of six Gulf nations and Jordan. China and Russia abstained.
Supporters pointed out that 135 nations cosponsored the resolution, demonstrating widespread unity against Iran’s actions that block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil, and threaten the global economy.
“135 countries stand with you,” said Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., addressing the countries facing retaliation from Iran. “This is exactly what the United Nations should be about,” he added — a strong show of support for the institution from a Trump administration official, despite the U.S. having withdrawn from many U.N. organizations.
Iran’s representative, Amir-Saeid Iravani, called it “a deeply regrettable day” for the council, accusing it of misusing its mandate and the United States of “abusing its position” as the current head of the council, while noting that Washington was the aggressor in a war that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and others.
More than 1,348 civilians, including children, have been killed in U.S. and Israeli attacks, he said. Mr. Iravani called the resolution condemning Iran hypocritical in view of the “facts on the ground.”
Russia’s U.N. representative, Vasily Nebenzya, said that his country’s proposal aimed to de-escalate and did not seek to blame or name parties or causes of the conflict to ensure its adoption. He called it “simple, direct and unequivocal in nature,” and said it urged an end to fighting, condemned strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for negotiations.
Four countries on the Security Council voted in favor of it — Russia, China, Pakistan and Somalia. The United States and Latvia opposed, while France, Britain, Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Greece, Liberia and Panama abstained.
Some who did not support the Russian resolution said that in view of its war on Ukraine, Russia’s proposal seemed dubious.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
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