Cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States: High-level Informal Interactive Dialogue
Tomorrow afternoon (24 September), Security Council members will hold a high-level informal interactive dialogue (IID) on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS). Éléonore Caroit, France’s Minister Delegate for Francophonie, International Partnerships and French Nationals Abroad, is expected to chair the meeting. (France serves as the Security Council’s president in September.) Briefings are expected from LAS Assistant Secretary-General for International Political Affairs Khaled Al-Manzalawi, on behalf of LAS Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo. The foreign ministers of Bahrain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, the present members of the Arab Summit Troika—a group of three rotating countries that monitor the implementation of resolutions and commitments adopted by the LAS—are expected to participate.
Background
The Security Council has increasingly focused on strengthening partnerships and cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations, as envisioned in Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. In this context, LAS representatives have addressed the Council on several occasions in recent years, with Arab Council members often featuring meetings on UN-LAS cooperation as signature events during their presidencies and proposing products in connection with these meetings.
Most recently, under Bahrain’s April presidency, the Council held a briefing on UN-LAS cooperation and adopted a presidential statement (S/PRST/2026/2) which renewed the Council’s support for the holding of an annual informal meeting between Council members, the Arab Summit Troika, and the LAS Secretary-General on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level segment. (For more information on the April 2026 meeting and negotiations on the presidential statement, see our 2 April What’s in Blue story.) Tomorrow’s meeting will be the fifth convened in line with this provision, which was first introduced in a presidential statement adopted in 2021 (S/PRST/2021/2). The Council adopted other presidential statements on UN-LAS cooperation in 2019 (S/PRST/2019/5) and in 2022 (S/PRST/2022/1).
Tomorrow’s Meeting
Tomorrow’s IID takes place against a backdrop of significant developments in the Arab region and the wider Middle East that have altered the context since the last IID on UN-LAS cooperation, held in September 2025.
The US-Israeli military strikes on Iran that began on 28 February triggered a wider regional confrontation that included Iranian attacks on Israel and several Arab and Gulf states. On 11 March, the Council adopted resolution 2817, which was authored by Bahrain on behalf of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—as well as Jordan; all are also members of the LAS. The resolution condemned Iran’s strikes against these countries and any actions or threats by Iran affecting maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict’s spillover has also posed acute challenges to regional security and Arab state cohesion. Disruptions of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz have continued, while renewed conflict in Yemen between the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government on the other, is now threatening freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait—a commercial shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has also seen major developments in the past year. On 12 September 2025, the General Assembly endorsed the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution by 142 votes in favour, ten against, and 12 abstentions. That month, France, the UK and several other member states formally recognised the State of Palestine. The Gaza ceasefire of 10 October 2025 and Security Council resolution 2803 of 17 November 2025, which endorsed the US-brokered “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict”, subsequently opened a new phase in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite the ceasefire, humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain dire as civilians continue to endure widespread destruction, Israeli restrictions on aid provision, and deadly strikes, with over 1,381 killed and 4,757 injured since last year’s ceasefire agreement. The way forward for implementing resolution 2803 also appears unclear, as an impasse continues between the parties over the implementation of the next phase of the Comprehensive Plan. (For more information, see our 24 August What’s in Blue story.)
At the same time, continued instability and crises in places such as Lebanon, Libya, the West Bank, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria further complicate the regional security environment.
France has circulated a concept note ahead of tomorrow’s meeting, framing the IID as an opportunity to reflect on how enhanced cooperation between the Council and the LAS can help forge peace and address such threats. The note poses several questions to help guide the discussion, including:
- Beyond the regular exchange of views, how can the Council and the LAS translate their partnership into concrete operational cooperation?
- How can both bodies best support the implementation of the New York Declaration and relevant Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including resolution 2803 and resolution 2334 of 23 December 2016?
- How can both bodies advance regional de-escalation and political solutions while safeguarding navigation through key maritime routes?
- How can both bodies work together, in cooperation with other UN organs, to ensure full respect for international law across the region?
At tomorrow’s meeting, Al-Manzalawi is likely to condemn Iran’s strikes against LAS members and its actions that are disrupting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Similarly, he may raise concerns over and condemn the Houthi actions against Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, including the threat to the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Additionally, Al-Manzalawi may underscore the LAS’ condemnation of Israeli military actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Lebanon, and Syria. More broadly, he is likely to highlight recent LAS engagement on the region’s crises and underscore the importance of sustained UN-LAS coordination at a moment of acute regional upheaval. DiCarlo is likely to brief Council members on UN engagement and cooperation with the LAS on issues across the Arab region, including the ongoing political transition in Syria, the intensifying conflict in Yemen, and the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.
Council members are expected to underscore the importance of the UN-LAS partnership and the value of enhanced cooperation at a moment when the Arab region faces compounding security crises. Several members are likely to focus on the Palestinian question, calling for sustained implementation of resolution 2803 and the New York Declaration, including provisions on humanitarian assistance and early recovery in Gaza, and calling on parties to take concrete steps towards achieving Palestinian statehood. Some members are likely to emphasise that cooperation between the Council and the LAS on the Palestinian question is essential in the face of continued acceleration of settlement activity in the West Bank, which has made the situation increasingly untenable and is eroding the viability of a two-state solution.
There may be reference in this regard to several relevant events hosted on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level segment, including yesterday’s (22 September) high-level closed meeting to mark one year since the adoption of the New York Declaration, which was convened by Canada, France, and the UK. Tomorrow, Saudi Arabia, in its role as the chair of the LAS-Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Gaza, together with Norway and the European Union (EU), will convene an open ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
Several members are likely to call for de-escalation in Lebanon and Yemen, and for the protection of maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Members may stress that following the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June between Iran and the US, which expired on 17 August without a final agreement, a renewed impetus to reach a durable, negotiated settlement to the conflict is urgently needed. Members are likely to call on conflict parties to de-escalate, exercise restraint, and resume diplomatic negotiations. In this regard, some members may stress that the adoption of resolution 2817, which was co-sponsored by 136 UN member states, demonstrated the importance of regional perspectives and approaches to the formulation of credible and broadly supported responses to the region’s most pressing challenges.
Members may also highlight the LAS’ unique and indispensable understanding of the Arab region in the context of efforts to address the conflict in the Sudan. They may refer to and express support for the diplomatic engagement of the Quintet group—which includes the LAS, among other regional organisations—aimed at securing a humanitarian truce and advancing a political process towards a democratic, civilian-led government in Sudan.
Several speakers are also expected to call for full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law, across the region’s active conflict zones, and to reiterate support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the states concerned.
