of the Sea, saying the United States was at a disadvantage with countries like Iran and China because of the Senate’s refusal to act on the treaty for almost two decades.
The UN convention governing maritime rights was drafted in 1982 and came into force in 1994. Iran is one of 16 countries—mostly landlocked—that have signed the treaty but not ratified it.
Despite support from successive American presidents of both parties, the US Senate has never ratified the treaty, which requires a two-thirds majority.
A small faction of conservative Republicans oppose the agreement, arguing it could undermine US legal authority over oil and gas resources on the continental shelf.
But Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a speech that ratification “has broad support among major US industries, including offshore energy, shipbuilding, commercial shipping, and communications companies.”
By opposing the treaty, the United States potentially undermines its “credibility” in Asia “just as we’re pushing for a rules-based order in the region and the peaceful resolution of maritime and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and elsewhere,” he said.
“How can we argue that other nations must abide by international rules when we haven’t officially accepted those rules ourselves?”
Panetta also said the treaty would bolster US efforts to ensure that vital shipping lanes stay open to commerce, especially the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf, where Tehran has claimed the right to restrict US Navy ship movements.
“US accession to the convention would help strengthen worldwide transit passage rights under international law and isolate Iran as one of the few remaining non-parties to the convention,” he said.
Panetta was joined by the US military’s top officer, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said that, without the treaty, the United States would have to continue to rely on customary international law for any maritime disputes, creating a higher risk of potential conflict.
Customary law “plays into the hands of foreign states that, over time, want to bend customary law to restrict movement on the oceans,” which the Islamic Republic has been doing for years.
“And, it puts our warships and aircraft ‘on point’ to constantly challenge claims,” Dempsey said.