United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an end to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting the international body could help protect the waterway and be part of a plan to de-escalate the Iran war.
South Korea also today joined a growing group of European countries, along with Japan, pushing for security to be returned to the strait in a bid to stabilise energy markets shaken by the war.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon.Getty Images
In an interview with Politico, Guterres said he had not spoken to US President Donald Trump since the start of the conflict, although he had spoken to others in the White House, and defended the UN’s role in times of war. He said the UN would “like to be useful” and could manage any system for the strait that came from negotiation.
He also welcomed Trump’s new Board of Peace, set up to fund and deliver the basics of a Gaza reconstruction plan rebuilding Palestinian homes and infrastructure, in the devastating wake of Israel’s recent war – though he branded the initiative a “personal project” of Trump.
“There is an objective there that was defined, approved by the Security Council, and we are co-operating actively with structures created by the Board of Peace,” Guterres said. But he added that he saw no need for the board beyond that initial rebuilding in Gaza, and international law must be paramount.