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The World Bank said conflict in the Middle East is affecting shipping routes as costs are rising and supply risks spilling over from energy to fertilizer and other critical agricultural inputs.
In a statement on its website, the global bank said several countries had mobilized as the attacks intensified.
According to the Washington-based lender, it is working with governments, the private sector, regional partners and other stakeholders to help them overcome a new set of challenges posed by the conflict.
“We are closely monitoring global market developments and are in direct contact with the most affected customer countries to understand what they are facing on the ground.
“Crude oil prices rose nearly 40% between February and March, the price of liquefied natural gas shipments to Asia increased by nearly two-thirds, and nitrogen fertilizer prices increased nearly 50% in March.
“The World Bank Group is moving quickly to help client countries address this crisis. We stand ready to respond at scale, combining immediate financial relief with policy expertise and private sector support to recover jobs and growth. We will draw on the full range of tools we have at our disposal to support governments, businesses and families. Our aim is to provide immediate relief by leveraging our active portfolio, our crisis response toolkit and pre-established financial instruments. We will progressively transition to disbursement tools quickly anchored in solid policies to support recovery. Through our strengths in the private sector, we will provide businesses with essential liquidity, trade financing and working capital.
“Clearly, this is an evolving situation and we cannot predict the full range of impacts. As everyone has said, the longer it lasts and the greater the damage to critical infrastructure, the more difficult it will be for our customers. That said, we are determined to be helpful and do everything we can to safeguard some of the hard-won economic progress these countries are making,” he said.
“…the United States plans a ground attack”
In a related development, the speaker of Iran’s parliament on Sunday accused the United States of planning a ground attack despite publicly pushing for a negotiated settlement, after an American warship with about 3,500 troops arrived in the Middle East.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s comments come after more than a month of Iranian aerial bombardment by US and Israeli forces, and as key regional players met to hold talks in Pakistan.
The war escalated into a regional conflagration as Iran retaliated with attacks on Gulf states, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.
“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack,” Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
“Our men are waiting for American soldiers to arrive on site to set it on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all,” he added.
The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship carrying about 3,500 Marines and sailors, arrived in the Middle East on Friday.
The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon was preparing plans for weeks of ground operations – including potentially raids on sites near the Strait of Hormuz – although US President Donald Trump has yet to approve any deployment.
Iran says it has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that previously accounted for a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade, to hostile ships.
Trump has repeatedly spoken of diplomatic contacts with Iran, although Tehran has denied these claims.
Pakistan, acting as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, hosted the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad for talks on the crisis.
The four-way meeting of top diplomats from Muslim nations was expected to discuss “a range of issues, including efforts to ease tensions in the region”, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
“All of Tehran was shaking”
In Tehran, two explosions shook the city early Sunday morning, an AFP journalist said, although it was not clear what the target was.
Qatari news channel Al Araby said an Israeli missile hit the building housing its offices in the city.
Footage from inside the office showed broken windows and shattered glass. Outside, images showed streets covered in debris and damage to surrounding buildings.
The channel said in a statement to AFP that it “condemns this attack on a civilian commercial building and says that endangering journalists or targeting them is against international law.”
“I miss a good night’s sleep,” one Tehran artist told AFP, saying the nightly strikes were “so intense that it seemed like all of Tehran was shaking.”
Farzaneh, a 62-year-old woman from the western Iranian city of Ahvaz contacted by AFP from Paris, said: “People wake up every day worried about an uncertain future.”
On Sunday, Ghalibaf called for unity among Iranians, saying the country is in “a great global phase
“We are confident that we can punish the United States, make it regret attacking Iran, and firmly guarantee our legitimate rights,” he said. (With further reporting from AFP, The Guardian)
