UN Security Council Resolution on the Strait of Hormuz on April 7th - China and Russia exercise veto power There are approximately three layers of core content: Firstly, no longer authorize the use of force. The initial version promoted by Bahrain had intended to give stronger authorization to various countries, and even included expressions such as "all necessary means" that were close to covering military operations. But after opposition from China, Russia, France, and others, the text was repeatedly weakened, and finally any explicit authorization for the use of force was deleted. Secondly, the final version mainly encourages defensive coordination. The final draft of the Security Council strongly encourages countries that use commercial routes in the Strait of Hormuz to carry out coordinated actions that are commensurate with the situation and defensive in nature to ensure the safety of navigation in the strait. Examples include escorting merchant and commercial vessels, as well as deterring actions that close, obstruct, or interfere with international navigation. The draft also requires Iran to immediately stop attacking merchant ships, stop obstructing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and stop attacking civilian infrastructure. Thirdly, the result was not approved. On April 7th, during the vote, this resolution received 11 votes in favor, 2 votes against, and 2 abstentions. However, due to the vetoes of Russia and China, the Security Council was unable to pass this resolution. Out of the 15 member states of the Security Council, 11 voted in favor, while Pakistan and Colombia abstained from the vote. Therefore, with these 11 votes, the minimum required 9 votes for passage could have been obtained. However, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia have veto power and have decided to exercise it, vetoing the resolution. This resolution initially called for the inclusion of Article 7, which would authorize member states to use force to open up the Strait of Hormuz. Russia and China strongly oppose this. That's why the negotiations lasted for so long, and the final resolution wording was also revised. Ultimately, the version voted on today strongly encourages countries interested in using the Strait of Hormuz for commercial maritime routes to coordinate their actions in a defensive manner. This is completely different from the use of force. Bahrain hopes that this will be enough to persuade Russia and China to at least abstain from voting, thus enabling the resolution to be passed. There are serious differences within the Security Council, and the exercise of veto power by Russia and China seems to indicate that both countries support Iran and will use their veto power to support Iran if necessary. Both Russia and China have stated that the resolution's condemnation of Iran is too strong.