United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement on July 12th deploring the “serious escalation and renewed military confrontations in the Gulf.” Holding the United States and Iran equally responsible for the escalation, the Secretary General called on both countries “to urgently resume negotiations and to address outstanding issues through diplomacy.”

The United States has consistently sought a peaceful resolution of the conflict

This is the kind of disgraceful moral equivalency and performative “neutrality” that undermines whatever moral credibility the UN claims to still have. The United States pursued the diplomatic route in good faith and entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Iranian regime that was favorable to Iran. The one commitment that Iran made regarding the Strait of Hormuz was to agree to a minimum 60-day period for keeping the Strait open to freedom of navigation. For its part, the U.S. removed its naval blockade and temporarily suspended its sanctions on Iran’s sale of its oil in the open market. But the Iranian regime went back on its word and continued to attack commercial shipping in the Strait. After several warnings, the Trump administration retaliated with military strikes on Iranian facilities the rogue regime used to launch its attacks. The regime did not get the message. They further escalated their attacks on more commercial shipping and expanded their military aggression to include attacks on the Gulf states. The Trump administration had no alternative but to up the ante and hit even more targets in Iran, which it is continuing to do.

The United States has consistently sought a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The Iranian regime, on the other hand, has played its usual delay-delay-delay game to stretch out the talks while violating the terms of the MOU from the get-go. The regime continues to insist that the Strait of Hormuz remain totally under Iranian control and has even launched attacks against commercial ships seeking to transit the Strait under U.S. protection along the coast of Oman. “We will not allow any U.S. intervention in the Strait of Hormuz,” warned Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

The Iranian regime’s idea of a “peaceful” settlement of the conflict is surrender to their demands for unchallenged control of the Strait of Hormuz

A spokesperson for the UN Secretary General’s office said at the daily press briefing on July 14^th that “there must be free movement of shipping across the Strait of Hormuz” and that the UN stands “against any efforts to restrict the freedom of movement of shipping…” Iran has attacked maritime shipping in the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is trying to protect the security of such shipping from Iran’s unprovoked attacks to ensure the “free movement of shipping across the Strait of Hormuz” that the UN claims to support. Yet, the Secretary General and other senior UN officials view both the U.S. and Iran as being equally at fault.

The Iranian regime’s idea of a “peaceful” settlement of the conflict is surrender to their demands for unchallenged control of the Strait of Hormuz, no constraints on their nuclear enrichment and weaponization program, removal of all sanctions, and unfreezing of their assets. These demands are obviously totally unacceptable.

The regime has repeatedly lied and violated its own commitments, including keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to freedom of navigation for at least sixty days as stipulated in the MOU. That is why President Trump declared that the MOU is “over.” And that is why he renewed military action against Iran’s assets used to support the regime’s military aggression against commercial shipping in the Strait and against Gulf states that are not parties to the conflict.

Peace through strength is far more effective and secure than peace through appeasement.