The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency session on 2 July at Bahrain’s request, exposing the precarious state of a US–Iran memorandum of understanding as both sides accused each other of violating its terms. The meeting, held under Congo’s rotating presidency after Colombia declined to schedule it in June, focused on a recent spike in military exchanges and threats to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Deputy Secretary-General Elizabeth Spehar told the council that while the joint decision by Tehran and Washington to de-escalate had created “a window of hope,” the situation remained fragile and any new incident risked a miscalculation that could return the region to full-scale conflict.

Viewed from Washington, the session was an opportunity to catalogue what Ambassador Mike Waltz described as Iran’s continued attacks on commercial vessels and neighbouring states despite the 17 June memorandum. Waltz displayed images of damage to residential areas, hotels and emergency crews in Bahrain, arguing that targeting civilians could not be justified as self-defence. He warned that President Trump’s patience was “not unlimited” and that the United States would not permit Iran to “hold the global economy hostage” by disrupting Hormuz traffic. Manama’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani told the council that Bahrain had been struck by 808 projectiles—203 ballistic missiles and 605 drones—since 28 February, killing three civilians and wounding 465. He cited a drone strike on an ammonia storage tank in a densely populated area on 5 April, which he said could have caused a mass-casualty disaster had the tank not been evacuated beforehand.

Tehran’s ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani rejected all accusations as baseless and insisted that Iran was the victim of two “wars of aggression” launched by the United States and Israel in violation of the UN Charter. He said US and Israeli attacks had killed more than 4,800 civilians, including women and children, and that Iran’s military responses were lawful acts of self-defence under Article 51, directed solely at US military installations in the region. Iravani accused ten regional states, including Bahrain, of facilitating those attacks by providing territory and airspace, and he dismissed Security Council resolution 2817 as a politically motivated text that ignored the root causes of the crisis. He nevertheless affirmed Iran’s commitment to the memorandum and to continued indirect talks, while warning that any further violation would be met with a “firm response.”

Moscow’s deputy envoy Anna Evstigneeva stressed that full implementation of the understandings was essential to prevent a new cycle of tension across the Middle East, including Lebanon. The memorandum, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, sets a 60-day timeline for ending hostilities on all fronts, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the naval blockade and unfreezing Iranian assets, with subsequent talks to address the nuclear file. Mediators announced on the day of the council session that a communication channel would be established to report and document potential violations. Yet the session also revealed new friction points: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has warned that vessels failing to use its designated transit routes will face consequences, while the UK delegate insisted the strait must remain free of threats, violence and fees. With indirect negotiations continuing in Doha, the council’s divided debate underscored how quickly the diplomatic track could be overtaken by events on the water.