Iran21 October, 20262 min read
Iran Says U.S. Naval Blockade Violates UN Charter, Threatens Peaceful Dispute Settlement
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Blockade leaves Iran's oil terminals idle; Kharg Island inactive since late August. Blockade violates UN Charter and international law; Iran calls for legal action.
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Iran cites UN Charter
Hassan Ghashghavi told Mehr news agency that Iran’s naval blockade is “tantamount to the declaration of war under the international law and the UN Charter.” Ghashghavi said international institutions must intervene to prevent such actions and take steps to condemn them, and he framed the UN’s purpose as preventing “the outbreak of war and resolving disputes between countries through peaceful means.”
The spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament cited “Article 2 of the UN Charter” and said it emphasizes “the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts” and “the prohibition of the threat or use of force against states and their sovereignty.” The U.S. blockade is hitting Iran’s economy by curtailing Iranian imports and exports through the Strait of Hormuz and by draining Iranian oil stocks held afloat off China and Malaysia as a revenue source.
Oil terminals sit idle
gCaptain, citing Bloomberg, said Iran’s main oil-loading terminals have remained empty for weeks, with no tankers docking at Kharg Island’s crude-export terminals since late August. Crude exports plunged from almost 1 million barrels a day in July to nothing since late August, and the shift was tied to the U.S. renewing its military blockade of the country’s shipping three months ago.
Central Command has evidence that the cash shortage is affecting salary and pension payments in Iran’s energy, oil, manufacturing, construction, aviation, steel and automotive sectors. The pressure is also extending to salary payments due to members of the regular military and the IRGC, and the Basij is part of the IRGC command structure used to suppress protests and disorder.
Blockade and shipping attacks
Paydari and IRGC hardliners have urged an escalation of military action against the United States and its allies, and the push has been linked to an upsurge of attacks on shipping in the strait. The attacks had not yet widened to infrastructure targets in the Gulf countries, and the UAE in particular signaled its readiness to respond to Iranian aggression with force of its own.
In the first two weeks of October, 25 ships were targeted in and around the chokepoint, compared with 18 incidents reported for the whole of September and 15 in August. Every escalatory action risks triggering a retaliatory response, and before negotiations recommence and the war is brought to an end, there is likely to be a period of wider and deeper IRGC-sponsored attacks.