French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot met with his Bahraini counterpart along with other senior officials of the Gulf region on March 25 “to share observations” that aim to “increase the possibility of the adoption of the text and its subsequent implementation,” one of the diplomats said.
French President Emmanuel Macron last month called on the United Nations to help open the Strait of Hormuz. France is one of the leading European countries in dealing with the Iran crisis through a combination of military commitments – Paris has vowed to send warships to the Straits as soon as the fighting ends – and diplomatic efforts through the United Nations thanks to its permanent seat on the Security Council.
Bahrain has led the push, which aims to secure legal protection for an international operation to clean up the strait and coincide with broader talks aimed at building a coalition to gain access to oil tankers.
The UK is hosting an online conference on Thursday with 35 countries that could be part of a a coalition of intentions to clean the Strait.
The EU’s fourth top diplomat compared the diplomatic push to an earlier UN-led plan to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. A plan called the Black Sea Grain Initiative ended up being supported by Moscow.
Non-Security Council members such as Bahrain can and often do draft such resolutions. But in order to be voted on, the draft would need to be approved and recommended by a member of the Security Council such as France or the United States. It would need the support of all five permanent members of the Security Council, including Russia, to pass – which one of the diplomats said would be a difficult hurdle to overcome given Russia’s support for Iran.
“Why should they do it?” the diplomat said in relation to the possibility of Russia supporting Bahrain’s resolution.
