US vs Iran: Global food crisis looms over Strait of Hormuz continued closure – UK warns

The United Kingdom has warned that the world is sleepwalking into a food crisis if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, gave the warning ahead of her speech on Tuesday at an aid summit in London.

Cooper is expected to say that the blockade of the key waterway could risk tens of millions of people going hungry and call for urgent global pressure to get the strait reopened.

DAILY POST reports that disruption in the shipping lane, which has effectively been closed since the start of the Iran war, has caused a surge in oil prices.

It has equally shut off access to some of the world’s most significant fertiliser factories, threatening to push food prices up.

The Foreign Office, therefore warned that critical emergency aid will be needed for developing countries less able to absorb the higher food prices if fertiliser supplies did not begin to flow again soon.