UAE minister meets IMO chief, discusses maritime security threats in Hormuz

Lana Nusseibeh, Minister of State, met with Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to discuss Iran’s ongoing unprovoked terrorist attacks and threats to vessels and seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Gulf, as well as the steps required to restore safe and unimpeded maritime navigation while ensuring the security of seafarers.

Nusseibeh expressed her appreciation to the Secretary-General and his team at the IMO for their important role in securing humanitarian access and safe passage for stranded seafarers and support for diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions and ensure freedom of navigation.

She highlighted the UAE’s support for the IMO’s mandate and its commitment to international law, in particular navigational freedom and transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz. In this context, Lana Nusseibeh emphasised that targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represent acts of piracy and constitute a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security.

Both sides discussed ongoing international efforts to defend a principled international maritime order and ensure the safety and security of shipping, and the role both the UAE and the IMO can play in pursuit of these efforts. They also discussed the critical importance of a normalisation of conditions in the Strait to the effective functioning of the global economy.

Lana Nusseibeh said, "The UAE is working closely with international partners, including the IMO, to ensure international law is upheld at what is a challenging time for regional security and global economic conditions. The UAE has engaged actively in IMO processes to reinforce fundamental international norms as they apply in ocean spaces, and has worked to secure the adoption of four IMO resolutions addressing the Strait of Hormuz.

"We greatly appreciate the ongoing efforts of the IMO and remain committed to close coordination with all relevant bodies as we work toward the safe resumption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.”

In line with these efforts, the UAE remains committed to engagement in all relevant multilateral fora to effectively address the impacts of Iran’s unlawful actions. The threat to maritime security and the freedom of navigation deeply undermines regional and international stability and must be addressed.

WAM