The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday called for “unimpeded” passage through the Strait of Hormuz and defended freedom of navigation in international straits, according to a draft communique seen by AFP. The statement, expected to be issued at the close of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila, inserts previously unused language targeting “freedom of navigation in and overflight above straits” while separately demanding the restoration of safe and continuous transit for ships and aircraft through the waterway. The closure of the strait following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran has triggered a global energy crisis and sharp rise in oil prices, with the import-dependent Philippines declaring a national emergency.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned ASEAN envoys that Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz would set a “dangerous precedent”, telling reporters that “a fundamental principle about freedom of navigation is threatened”. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying told a separate meeting that the world had entered “a new period of turbulence and transformation”, with the Middle East situation spilling into energy and food supply chains and making the demand for peace “more urgent”. Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, whose country chairs ASEAN, said the forum convened “against the backdrop of profound geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainty” and that no nation could address the complex security environment alone.

The economic fallout has rippled across a region whose combined GDP of about $3.8 trillion remains heavily reliant on Middle East oil. The US military completed a 12th successive night of attacks on Iran on Wednesday, while Iranian-aligned Houthi forces claimed hits on two Saudi oil tankers, threatening a second chokehold on global oil supplies in the Red Sea. Rubio said Washington preferred a diplomatic solution but that Tehran was “not serious about talks”, adding that Iran would “continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher”.

The Manila meetings also addressed tensions in the South China Sea, but China’s ambassador to the Philippines said recent clashes would not affect efforts to finish a Code of Conduct for the waterway by the end of the year. Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan expressed confidence a deal would be completed by November’s ASEAN leaders’ summit. However, analysts have long warned that any document acceptable to both Beijing and all ASEAN members would lack teeth. The draft communique alludes to energy cooperation among ASEAN states, but no progress on previously announced initiatives such as a regional energy grid or fuel-sharing scheme has been revealed.