UAE Proposal on ‘Safe Maritime Corridor’ in Strait of Hormuz Vehemently Refuted by Iran

Deputy Permanent Representative of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran to the IMO Pouria Kolivand categorically denied an Emirati proposal on a “safe maritime corridor” through the strategic waterway at the 113th meeting of the IMO Legal Committee on Tuesday. 

He firmly dismissed claims by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its proposal on the status quo of the Strait of Hormuz, describing the paper as based on an arbitrary narrative full of baseless claims and legally invalid conclusions.

Kolivand also stressed that the IMO adopted a deeply-flawed proposal that is procedurally invalid, emphasizing that any corridor must be agreed with the full consent and coordination of Iran as the key coastal state.

An unprovoked war of aggression by a US-Israeli military coalition against Iran on February 28 is the root cause of the current deterioration of maritime safety in West Asia and that such an act of war violates the UN Charter, Tehran announced, stressing that any legal assessment that isolates the maritime consequences from this root cause is “incomplete and legally flawed".

Since the onset of war, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz only to hostile vessels – those directly or indirectly linked to the aggressors – but at the same time maintained that non-hostile vessels not participating in or supporting assault against Iran may pass through the narrow waterway after coordination with relevant Iranian authorities and compliance with safety regulations.

“The current situation in the region, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, is the direct consequence of savage and illegal war by the US and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, a war that is in sheer violation of fundamental principles of the UN Charter, particularly the principle of prohibition of appeal to force,” Kolivand said at the IMO meeting.

Those states participating in the aggression and those paving the way for the assault have to bear international responsibility, he added, referring to principles of international law and relevant documents on the definition of onslaught.

Kolivand also stressed that despite the war-triggered situation in the strait, the waterway has always been open and the maritime traffic has not been blocked, adding that attempts by the UAE’s proposal in making Iran responsible for the status quo of the Strait of Hormuz severely suffers from legal and technical flaws.