The Legal Status of Bab-el-Mandeb Strait According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Extent of Yemen's Right to Prohibit Foreign from Passing Through

Abstract

Water covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface, making seas and straits strategically vital regions globally. The Yemeni Republic boasts a uniquely strategic maritime location among world nations, particularly as a coastal state to the crucial Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The international community, in pursuit of mutual interests among nations and to prevent threats to international peace and security, and in alignment with the primary purpose of the United Nations Charter – 'to maintain international peace and security' – has long sought to establish international legal frameworks to resolve maritime disputes between states. These efforts have taken the form of rulings by the International Court of Justice, such as in the Corfu Channel Case (1946), and international conferences aimed at reaching international conventions regulating the rights and duties of nations at sea. After several attempts, these endeavors culminated in the signing of the 1982 Convention, which introduced, for the first time, a special regime for international straits ('right of transit passage'), safeguarding the rights of coastal states. Given the military events and operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea following the October 7 flood in the occupied Palestinian territories, which directly impacted the navigation of certain vessels owned by or associated with the Zionist entity, as well as American and British ships, due to grave violations committed by these nations in clear contravention of the principles of international law embodied in the UN Charter, it is imperative to examine the legality of Yemen's actions in preventing these vessels from passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, as well as the attacks carried out by the Yemeni armed forces in this context, leading to a set of conclusions and recommendations.