Bahrain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, addressed a high-level UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, October 29, 2026, accusing the Houthis and Iran of transforming emerging maritime technologies—designed to make the seas safer—into weapons targeting global shipping. The meeting was convened under Greece's presidency of the Security Council and chaired by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a signature event focused on emerging technologies and maritime security . Alrowaiei's statement placed the maritime security crisis in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz squarely before the UN's primary body responsible for international peace and security.
The Bahraini envoy detailed the specific threat vectors. He told the Council that uncrewed vessels and drones originally intended to enhance navigational safety were being deployed by the Iran-backed Houthis to attack ships in the Red Sea and near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, "imperiling the lives of innocent seafarers as well as jeopardizing and disrupting international trade" . Separately, he accused Iran of "using uncrewed, remotely controlled, explosive-laden vessels targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters" . The dual threat—from non-state actors in the Red Sea and a state actor in the Gulf—presents a compounded security challenge for commercial shipping across two of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints.
Alrowaiei framed the issue as a perversion of cooperative security tools. He noted that the technologies Gulf states and their partners had championed to strengthen collective security were now being turned against the very sea lanes they were supposed to protect. "What we have proposed for greater cooperation, security and peace is now being used by other stakeholders to threaten navigation and maritime security, in violation of international law and international norms, including Security Council Resolution 2817" . Resolution 2817, adopted on March 11 with 13 votes in favor and China and Russia abstaining, condemned Iran's attacks against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan, and demanded an immediate halt to all hostile acts, including threats to maritime trade .
The contrast in the Strait of Hormuz itself was drawn sharply. Alrowaiei stated that Iran was laying mines in the waterway while allied navies deployed uncrewed surface vehicles to clear them so that the strait could be reopened. "Between the laying of mines and their removal lies the fundamental distinction between those seeking to undermine international trade, and those who shoulder collective responsibility for the safety of navigation for all," he said . This juxtaposition served to illustrate the dual-use nature of maritime technology—the same uncrewed systems that can threaten shipping can also be deployed to protect it, depending on the actor and intent.
From a logistics and supply chain perspective, Alrowaiei emphasized that maritime security can no longer be separated from the domains of global connectivity—sea, air and cyberspace. He warned that a threat to any one of them has repercussions on trade, supply chains, and energy and food security . For India and other trading nations dependent on these corridors, the implications are direct: disruptions in the Red Sea and Hormuz affect not only the physical movement of goods but also the digital infrastructure—undersea cables, data flows—on which modern logistics coordination, port operations, and trade documentation increasingly depend.
The Bahraini envoy also highlighted the positive applications of the same technologies in the Gulf region, where artificial intelligence and uncrewed surface vessels are being used to update nautical charts, map safe passages, and support crewed vessels in reconnaissance and surveillance missions . This balanced presentation acknowledged that the technology itself is neutral—the threat arises from the actors who deploy it and the purposes to which it is put. The challenge for the international community lies in preserving the beneficial applications while constraining the malicious ones.
Alrowaiei concluded with a call for governance. He urged that regulation keep pace with innovation, including clear frameworks that define responsibility for the use of emerging technologies in the maritime domain. "Technological progress needs to be a bridge between peoples, not a weapon to sever the arteries of trade or to be used for blackmail targeting the entire world," he said. "We cannot accept that maritime routes, which are vectors of shared prosperity, be transformed into tools of coercion and intimidation" . The statement positioned the Security Council debate as a starting point for developing norms around maritime technology use—an effort that, if pursued, could shape the operational environment for commercial shipping in the Gulf and Red Sea for years to come.