Saqr Ghobash: Maritime attacks weaken international law, Iran’s aggressions threaten global stability

Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), affirmed that hope, peace, and justice for future generations cannot be preserved through rhetoric alone, but require clear and firm stances against threats to state sovereignty and stability.

Speaking at the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Istanbul, Ghobash said the UAE and Gulf states are facing a repeated pattern of Iranian aggression, both direct and through proxies, which destabilises the region and risks turning international waterways into tools of pressure and blackmail.

He said the international community no longer views attacks on sovereignty and freedom of navigation as isolated incidents, but as assaults on the foundations of the international order, citing the UN Security Council Resolution 2817 (2026) and the Human Rights Council Resolution 38 of 2026.

Ghobash said that such acts target the essence of a system meant to safeguard sovereignty, protect civilians, ensure freedom of navigation, and prevent the conversion of power into a tool for political and economic blackmail.

This behaviour, he said, targets civilian objects and facilities, including airports, ports, energy facilities, vital infrastructure, desalination plants, food security centres, industrial hubs, and various other civilian sites.

He added that such actions have extended to disrupting the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of global energy trade passes, as well as key supplies such as fertilisers, particularly for the countries of the Global South.

Ghobash warned against any leniency or failure to confront such practices, saying that if the world comes to view threats against states or the disruption of key routes as tools to improve political or negotiating positions, it would set a dangerous precedent where accepted norms are blurred, and rules are replaced by faits accomplis.

He said that while the UAE has welcomed the truce between the United States and Iran and is following ongoing negotiations, any settlement must take into account the rights and concerns of affected states to ensure credibility and long-term stability.

The FNC Speaker stressed that closing the Strait of Hormuz represents blackmail, aggressive behaviour, and a deliberate strangling of a vital artery for the global economy, energy security, and international stability. He asserted that international maritime corridors must not be held hostage by any single party, and the world should not bear the cost of policies based on threats and coercion.

He noted that safeguarding these routes is not a political choice but a legal and moral necessity to protect the international system and deter attempts to disrupt global trade without consequence.

He called upon Iran to halt such actions, provide guarantees of non-recurrence, and provide full reparations, including compensation for the direct and indirect economic losses suffered by the affected countries.

Furthermore, he called on member parliaments to adopt a clear and responsible stance condemning the systematic Iranian attacks on the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan as a grave violation of international law.

He urged the rejection of any justifications for such acts, holding Iran responsible for disrupting the freedom of navigation and committing to the non-targeting of civilian facilities.

He also called for the activation of international accountability to protect maritime corridors and prevent their use as a tool for blackmail, considering them a "red line" that must not be utilised in any conflict.

Ghobash concluded that lasting peace requires political will, justice, respect for sovereignty and adherence to international law, adding that peace can only be built on fairness and sustained through responsibility.