Sawt Falasteen - Iran condemned as UN maritime body holds emergency talks on Mideast shipping

Numerous nations used opening statements at the International Maritime Organization gathering to lambast Tehran's response to US-Israeli strikes, which has seen Iran target Gulf countries and commercial shipping.

That has crippled maritime trade in or near the Strait of Hormuz, leaving around 20,000 seafarers stuck on approximately 3,200 vessels west of the crucial chokepoint, according to the IMO.

"Qatar resolutely condemns the attacks and threats from ... Iran perpetrated against merchant vessels and seafarers as well as shipping infrastructure in the region," the Gulf state's IMO delegate told the meeting.

The United Arab Emirates called Iran's actions "unprovoked, unjustifiable, indiscriminate and wholly unlawful". Saudi Arabia branded them "utterly unacceptable and unjustifiable under any circumstances".

The United States urged countries to "push back against the cynical actions of a regime that seeks to sow economic and geopolitical instability as a strategy for political self-preservation".

"We should not allow a country to attempt to degrade the well-being of civilians around the world through leveraging a critical international waterway," the American IMO representative added.

- 'Unlawful' -

In response, Iran blamed "the recent unlawful use of force and military aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime".

"Iran did not initiate this war," its IMO delegate told the gathering.

"Responsibility for the human, material, and maritime consequences of the present situation rests with those who launched this unlawful aggression."

An effective Iranian blockade of the Hormuz Strait -- through which a fifth of global crude and liquified natural gas normally transits -- has dramatically spiked oil prices and spooked markets.

Meanwhile at least 21 ships have been hit, targeted or reported attacks since the start of the conflict, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a naval monitor.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez kicked off the gathering at its London headquarters -- open to all 176 member states as well as dozens of NGOs and maritime industry bodies -- by urging members to focus on "practical measures".

He called the situation "unacceptable and unsustainable", noting stranded seafarers were "facing high risk and considerable mental strain".

"Geopolitics are testing the sector to the limit and every time that shipping is used as collateral damage in these conflicts, the whole world is negatively affected," Dominguez said.

- 'Maritime corridor' -

Maritime industry bodies have echoed that, urging a "coordinated international approach to security" while demanding that "seafarer welfare must be taken into account".

They want measures to ensure their "communications with home can be maintained, crew changes and disembarkation can be facilitated, and the stores and provisions are adequate for the needs of seafarers".

The 40-member council of the UN agency -- responsible for regulating international shipping safety -- could vote Thursday on several proposed resolutions.

They include one tabled by Japan, Panama, Singapore and the UAE urging the IMO to help "establish a framework to allow the safe evacuation of seafarers and ships stranded in the Gulf".

The US delegate at the IMO said Washington welcomed the proposal encouraging "a safe maritime corridor for the safe evacuation of merchant ships from these affected areas".

"We urge partners around the world to support efforts to reopen the strait," she said.

However, if passed, IMO resolutions remain non-binding.

Meanwhile Iran-ally Russia rounded on its critics, accusing them of "completely disregarding the actions which preceded the current escalation and which in actual fact led to this situation".

"The overwhelming majority of statements and the documents submitted are seriously one-sided," Moscow's IMO representative said.

"This selective approach not only does not contribute to the quest for peace, on the contrary it only reinforces divisions and leads to further escalation."

C.Hamad--SF-PST