UN says 25 seafarers killed in, around Hormuz since US-Israel war on Iran
At least 25 seafarers have been killed in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war on Iran broke out in February, according to the United Nations.
Khaled Khiari, assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, gave the figures during a UN Security Council briefing on Friday. The incidents cover the period up to November 11, with October recording the highest tally since the start of the conflict.
This situation cannot be allowed to become the new normal.
Rising Incidents
The UN's International Maritime Organization tracked 136 security incidents involving vessels in Hormuz and the wider Middle East between March 1 and November 11. It said 35 of those incidents came in October and 10 in November.
Khiari urged the "full restoration of maritime navigation in the region," noting that "civilian vessels and commercial shipping must not become targets."
Iran's Warning
Iranian authorities reported that three oil tankers had hit mines while travelling through "unauthorised" or "restricted" areas of Hormuz. Tehran has warned vessels must receive Iranian approval to cross the waterway during the conflict.
Iran's navy threatened: "Any offending tanker that travels in the restricted area east of the Strait of Hormuz will be set on fire by hitting naval mines."
Global Impact
Khiari emphasized that "disruptions to maritime navigation continue to have significant global economic consequences, driving up energy, transport and insurance costs, fuelling inflation and threatening food security amid severely constrained fertiliser shipments."
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is approximately 65 percent below pre-war levels, according to the latest report from the UK Maritime Trade Operations. The US military claims it has cleared the strait's main routes of mines and that the waterway is open for commercial shipping.
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