UN-Backed Initiative to Reopen Strait of Hormuz
Efforts to restore normal operations through the Strait of Hormuz continue to face significant delays, creating mounting international pressure for an effective resolution that allows safe passage once again.John Denton, who serves as secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce, sugge
Efforts to restore normal operations through the Strait of Hormuz continue to face significant delays, creating mounting international pressure for an effective resolution that allows safe passage once again.
John Denton, who serves as secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce, suggests that a solution could draw from an established and successful precedent. Having played a key role in facilitating the Black Sea Grain Initiative following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the ICC has now contributed to crafting a comparable neutral structure tailored for conditions in the Gulf region. This organization represents business interests across more than 170 nations worldwide.
The suggested approach creates a workable system designed to handle registration procedures, ongoing monitoring activities, verification processes, and regular reporting on all vessel traffic moving through the strategic waterway. Initial implementation would prioritize shipments of fertilizers along with essential raw materials required for their production.
Denton explained to Fortune that this represents another instance where the chamber has worked to establish operational procedures capable of restoring commercial movement during active conflicts. The underlying principle involves creating mutual benefits for all involved parties. In the earlier Black Sea arrangement, Ukraine obtained pathways for exporting wheat and sunflower products while Russia secured routes for fertilizer shipments. In contrast, current dynamics surrounding the Iran situation appear limited to cycles of escalation rather than constructive exchanges that could lead to peaceful reopening of the strait.
Under the current proposal, a specialized task force would operate under the leadership of Jorge Moreira da Silva, who holds the position of executive director at the United Nations Office for Project Services. Participation would extend to officials from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as well as the International Maritime Organization.
Following establishment, a Joint Coordination Center would manage secure passage lanes, supervise loading operations for fertilizers and associated materials, conduct verification and monitoring of all participating ships, and release weekly updates summarizing operational activities. This center would be positioned in Salalah along the southern coast of Oman facing the Arabian Sea, with daily meetings convened to assess verified vessel requests and assign routes that minimize potential conflicts for both incoming and outgoing traffic.
Denton noted that participants in the ongoing dispute have frequently made public statements declaring the strait open, closed, or partially accessible. However, ensuring actual functionality requires engagement with the complete commercial network, including shipowners, crew members, insurance providers, port operators, commodity traders, and financial institutions. Each of these entities requires reliable assurances before resuming movements of goods through the area.
The design of this framework emphasizes acceptability and practicality for the entire economic ecosystem. Achieving this goal necessitates thorough deconfliction measures across the region along with sustained commitment to neutral oversight, including inspection capabilities conducted at appropriate scale and frequency rather than on an infrequent basis.
Although vessel inspections remain voluntary under the proposal, participating nations retain the option to request additional checks based on defined criteria. Such secondary inspections would occur at Oman’s Salalah Port Authority facilities under observation by United Nations personnel, with findings distributed among Joint Coordination Center members prior to allowing the vessel to continue its journey.
Similar to the earlier Black Sea arrangement, this mechanism would operate within a defined time period and would explicitly avoid diminishing any established rights to freedom of navigation recognized under international law, whether customary or treaty-based, as Denton highlighted based on his prior experience leading the Australian legal firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
No specific duration is outlined within the proposal itself. Instead, the intent centers on providing a neutrally managed interim arrangement that bridges the gap until a lasting agreement can be reached among relevant parties. Denton indicated that the framework stands ready for activation within weeks or potentially even sooner, while recognizing that functional trade corridors cannot simply be announced without supporting conditions in place. He noted uncertainty regarding Iranian acceptance of the proposal but confirmed that Iranian authorities have received information about it.
Historical precedent shows that developing the Malacca mechanism for straits in East Asia required three years of negotiations, serving as a useful reference for the current Hormuz situation. Denton emphasized that this cannot be imposed externally and that successful implementation hinges on conflicting parties concluding that the initiative holds sufficient value to warrant agreement and forward movement.
Unlike the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which addressed a bilateral dispute between Ukraine and Russia, the Strait of Hormuz presents a more complex environment involving multiple states with overlapping territorial claims and substantial international legal considerations.
Article 5 within the United States-Iran Memorandum of Understanding was originally conceived as a confidence-building step to revive commercial shipping through the strait. Instead, its imprecise language has generated divergent interpretations regarding authority, alternative shipping pathways, and uncertainty surrounding the 60-day fee waiver provision.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently described the June memorandum with the United States as foundational to Tehran’s future diplomatic engagements. Denton identified the legal vagueness in Article 5 as a significant vulnerability, noting that Iranian authorities have interpreted it as granting them authority to establish administrative procedures for shipping through the strait, an interpretation disputed by the United States.
Additional concerns were raised regarding the current regional discussions. Denton questioned whether any bilateral agreement between Iran and Oman could prove durable without broader involvement, particularly from the United States, and how confidence could be maintained given the prevailing lack of trust among participants. He suggested that the United Nations may represent the sole institution currently viewed with sufficient credibility to facilitate effective operations.
Denton confirmed ongoing consultations with Gulf Cooperation Council member states regarding the framework and continued regular communication with them. Discussions also extend to the Union of Arab Chambers, ensuring awareness of immediate ground-level developments and their transmission into worldwide economic effects. While reductions in oil and gas exports produce visible price increases, disruptions to fertilizer movements through Hormuz would manifest over extended periods due to seasonal harvest cycles, disproportionately affecting the chamber’s membership across 170 countries, with 70 percent located in the Global South.
Prior to recent conflicts, approximately 30 percent of global fertilizer trade transited the Strait of Hormuz. The World Food Programme has projected that interruptions affecting this critical passage could result in 45 million additional individuals facing hunger. Michael de Vulpillieres, serving as director of media and communications at the United Kingdom-based organization CARE, informed Fortune that food price elevations are already observable. Maize prices in Kenya stand 9 percent above levels from the previous year, while rice prices in the Philippines have risen by 18 percent.
These mounting pressures on food systems have already constrained the charity’s capacity to address child malnutrition. In Somalia, treatment costs for severe acute malnutrition have nearly quadrupled, limiting CARE to reaching only 28 percent of the children originally targeted within existing budgets. De Vulpillieres indicated that the most severe strains are anticipated over the subsequent six to 18 months as diminished yields, harvest shortfalls, and constrained supplies propagate through local and international markets.