The European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council have issued a joint declaration rejecting any state’s claim to sovereignty or control over the Strait of Hormuz and demanding that Iran immediately cease all attacks on commercial shipping. The statement, released after a high-level forum on regional security in Brussels on 13 July and co-chaired by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, describes the imposition of transit fees, permits or service charges on international vessels as unlawful. It insists that no bilateral arrangement between states can restrict the right of passage through an international strait, a right it says is guaranteed to all nations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

According to the text, the two blocs condemned “in the strongest terms” Iranian strikes against merchant ships and against the sovereign territories of several regional states, including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Jordan. The statement argues that such actions endanger civilians and seafarers, violate UN Security Council Resolution 2817, and cannot be justified under any circumstances. It calls on Iran to keep the waterway open without conditions, transit fees or service charges, and expresses full solidarity with affected countries and mariners. The EU and GCC also pledge to strengthen coordination to protect freedom of navigation and support the International Maritime Organization as the competent body for maritime governance.

Viewed from Tehran, the declaration disregards what Iranian legal scholars describe as the established principle of coastal-state sovereignty over territorial seas, even within international straits. Iranian media note that both the 1958 Geneva Convention and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognise the full sovereignty of the coastal state over its territorial waters, and that the right of transit passage cannot be exercised in a manner that threatens the security or neutrality of the littoral state. They point to International Court of Justice rulings, including the Corfu Channel and Oil Platforms cases, as affirming that no right under international law may be used to menace or attack a coastal state. From this perspective, the management arrangements for the strait fall within the domestic laws of Iran and Oman and are consistent with customary and treaty law, and the presence of foreign military forces without consent is itself a violation of the UN Charter’s prohibition on the threat or use of force.

The exchange occurs against a backdrop of escalating US-Iran military strikes, even after the two sides signed a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending hostilities and reaching a lasting peace. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil consumption passes, has become a focal point of the confrontation. Western and Gulf officials argue that Iran’s actions threaten the entire global energy supply chain, while Iranian authorities maintain that their measures are defensive responses to what they characterise as an illegal US military build-up and attacks on Iranian interests. The joint statement urges all parties to exercise restraint and reaffirms a commitment to dialogue and diplomacy, yet it sets out no new mechanism for de-escalation. The next formal step is likely to be further consultations within the International Maritime Organization, where the EU and GCC have signalled their intention to pursue the matter.