Speaking at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani said Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan had been subjected to nearly 7,000 Iranian attacks since late February.
The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Al Zayani said the attacks were carried out using ballistic and cruise missiles as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.
He disclosed the number of missiles and drones
According to the Bahraini minister’s statement, the attacks included 1,700 ballistic missiles, 80 cruise missiles and 5,220 unmanned aerial vehicles. Al Zayani also said that 72 commercial vessels had been targeted and 22 sailors had been killed.
Al Zayani claimed that the attacks targeted civilian facilities, residential areas, ports, airports and energy facilities. The minister described the actions as violations of international law and the United Nations Charter, saying the attacks were unjustified and indiscriminate.
Al Zayani also said commercial vessels had been targeted in the Strait of Hormuz and that mines had been laid along an international maritime route. He said restrictions on transit had affected energy and food prices, transportation and insurance costs, and global supply chains.
Emphasis on the right of passage through the Strait of Hormuz
The Bahraini foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz was an international maritime route and that, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ships from all countries had the right of passage.
Al Zayani said Bahrain did not accept the imposition of permits or fees for passage, adding that they opposed turning international waterways into instruments of pressure, economic blackmail or the seizure of vessels.
Al Zayani also said the Houthis were threatening the safety of maritime transport in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea. The minister said the Houthis had expanded their area of control along Yemen’s western coast in September, adding that the city of Mocha, Mayyun Island and the Zubab area near the Bab al-Mandab Strait had been seized.
Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Yemen
Al Zayani said the Palestinian issue remained among Bahrain’s priorities, adding that his country supported the establishment of an independent and geographically contiguous Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, with both living in security and peace.
On Syria, Al Zayani said Bahrain supported the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. He added that Bahrain supported efforts to lift sanctions in order to pave the way for the reconstruction process.
The Bahraini minister called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, the protection of civilians, the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and a political solution that would preserve the country’s unity. In Yemen, he said Bahrain supported a political solution under United Nations auspices and led by the legitimate government.
Call for reform of the UN Security Council
Al Zayani said the United Nations’ capacity to implement its resolutions needed to be strengthened. He said a system in which international law was not enforced and resolutions were not implemented could not restore trust.
The United Nations Security Council consists of 15 members. Its permanent members are the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, while 10 countries serve as non-permanent members.
Calls to reform the structure of the Security Council and include regions that are not represented among the permanent members have been on the agenda for a long time. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also advocated reform of the council, criticizing the restriction of permanent membership and veto power to five countries.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Security Council needed to be reformed to better reflect the world’s current structure. Guterres also criticized the lack of African representation among the permanent members.
