A group of 80 countries has demanded this Thursday from the UN General Assembly the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, holding the Houthi rebels of Yemen and Iran responsible for their attacks in the Gulf and for the serious disruptions they are causing in global trade and energy supply security.
"Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to threaten international security and the rights and freedoms of navigation. We call for the rights and principles of navigation to be restored without delay and in full," they stated in a joint declaration read by Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Abdulatif bin Rashid al Zayani.
The 80 countries have "strongly" condemned the attacks by the Houthis, thus resuming the fighting with the forces loyal to the internationally recognized Government of Yemen, as well as those launched against Saudi Arabia and its "reckless attacks" in the Red Sea.
The Houthis launched an offensive on September 3 in areas of the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida and since then have made significant territorial gains, including the capture of the city of Mocha and other points on the coast of the Red Sea, in a severe blow to the internationally recognized authorities.
These advances increase the rebels' capabilities to affect maritime traffic in Bab el Mandeb -something they have already promised not to do-, whose importance has increased due to the disruptions to transit in the Strait of Hormuz following the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The situation threatens to provoke the total collapse of the truce reached in 2022, after years of war and amid attempts mediated by the United Nations to achieve a peace agreement that ends the conflict that began in 2014, which has plunged the country into one of the most serious international crises globally.