Gulf Ministerial Council Affirms the Need to Respect Maritime Navigation Rights and Commends the Seizure of Arms Smuggling

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arabian Sea - Yemen - Special: The Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stressed the importance of maintaining maritime security and waterways, and confronting activities that threaten the security and stability of the region and the world, including targeting commercial ships and threatening maritime navigation lines and international trade. A final statement from the 165th session of the Ministerial Council meeting today in Kuwait stressed the need to respect the right of maritime navigation therein, in accordance with the provisions of international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, and the Council condemned the Houthi group's sinking of the cargo ships "Magic Seas" and "Eternity Sea," the killing and loss of a number of their crew members, and the leakage of about (17) thousand metric tons of ammonium nitrate into the waters of the Red Sea, which threatens marine life therein. The Council praised the announcement by the National Resistance Forces affiliated with the Yemeni government that they had seized a shipment of strategic weapons in the Red Sea, amounting to 750 tons, which was on its way to the Houthi group from Iran, condemning the continued foreign interference in Yemen's internal affairs, supporting terrorist groups, and smuggling military experts and weapons to the Houthi group, in blatant violation of Security Council resolutions 2216, 2231, and 2624. The Ministerial Council was briefed on the preparations for the International Conference on Food Security in Yemen, scheduled to be held at the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council on October 27-28, 2025, and the Council called on all countries and international organizations to participate effectively in this conference, and also called on donor countries to provide humanitarian and development support to brotherly Yemen, enabling Yemen to meet its obligations, achieve economic stability, and strengthen the role of the Central Bank, which is based in the interim capital, Aden, to support the national currency as the sole legitimate monetary authority in Yemen.