Chinese envoy calls for de-escalation in Yemen situation

Sun Lei, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations on Thursday urged all parties concerned to stay calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of the situation in Yemen.

At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Yemen, Sun said that the situation in Yemen has escalated drastically in the past month, with the conflict intensity reaching its highest level since a ceasefire agreement was signed in the April 2022.

Meanwhile, security risks in the Red Sea shipping lanes have been on the rise, sparking widespread concern of the international community, he said.

The current escalation of tensions in Yemen has taken place in the backdrop of growing instability in the Middle East and is the result of the spillover effects of regional conflicts, said Sun.

The Chinese envoy said the most urgent priority is to de-escalate the situation and prevent the conflict from continuing to expand. He called on all parties involved to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation.

Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Thursday that no commercial vessel or oil tanker has been, or will be, able to cross the Strait of Hormuz safely without the Iranian armed forces’ permission and supervision.

In a video message carried by Iranian media, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters’ spokesman, said that, as in the past, the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran’s full control and management, dismissing the United States’ claims about vessels’ normal passage through the Strait of Hormuz as “false and nothing but lies.”

He added the U.S. “false” claims are indicative of its army’s “desperation and helplessness,” stressing that the U.S. leaders and army have well tested the Iranian armed forces’ “power and resistance.”

Zolfaghari stressed that Iran’s armed forces are monitoring all movements by the United States and Israel in the region and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian people’s rights as well as the country’s national sovereignty and aspirations and will respond to any threat.

His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on social media that the United States maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz on Feb 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.