A United Nations official has warned that tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a third of the world's fertilisers normally pass. Iran has had the waterway in a chokehold for months in retaliation for the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28, disrupting a trade critical for farmers around the world.
Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz, a United Nations official has warned.
Iran has had the strategic waterway - through which a third of the world's fertilisers normally pass - in a chokehold for months in retaliation for the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28, disrupting a trade critical for farmers around the world. Speaking to AFP, Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, said: 'We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis.
". The UN secretary general created the task force in March to spearhead a mechanism to allow fertilisers and related raw materials such as ammonia, sulphur and urea through the strait. For weeks, Moreira da Silva has been working to convince the belligerent parties to allow even a few ships through, and has met with 'more than 100 countries' to rally UN member state support around the mechanism.
A growing number of countries are showing support for the plan, he said, but the US and Iran, as well as Gulf countries, which are key fertiliser producers, are not yet fully on board. While the ultimate hope is for a 'lasting peace' deal in the region and 'freedom of navigation for all commodities' through the strait, 'the problem is the planting season can't wait", Moreira da Silva said, with some ending in African nations within weeks.
Global focus has been on the economic impacts of the throttled oil and gas trade, but the UN has been sounding the alarm of the threat the blockade poses to the world's food security, with countries in Africa and Asia likely to be particularly hard hit. Portuguese Executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Jorge Moreira Da Silva (pictured), has warned that tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has had the strategic waterway - through which a third of the world's fertilisers normally pass - in a chokehold for months. File photo: Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman's Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 202
United Nations UNOPS Strait Of Hormuz Fertilizers Food Security Humanitarian Crisis Planting Season Global Trade Economic Impact Political Will
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Like the Suez Canal for the Brits, Could Strait of Hormuz Spell Doom for US Empire?Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She is the co-author, with Nicolas J.S. Davies, of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, available from OR Books in November 2022.
Read more »
Trump rejects Iran ceasefire as Strait of Hormuz tensions riseStart your morning with The National News Desk as Jan Jeffcoat sits down with Washington Insider Armstrong Williams.
Read more »
Iran's 'unacceptable' deal means US must open the Strait of Hormuz by forceIf the Trump administration is serious about restoring the free flow of international commerce illegally strangled by the Tehran regime since the start of hostilities, it should resume Project Free…
Read more »
Turkish FM warns against use of Strait of Hormuz as 'weapon' amid regional tensionsForeign Minister Hakan Fidan warns that disruptions in the strategic waterway would threaten both regional stability and the global economy.
Read more »