Rania Al-Mashat, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, said that the war between the United States and the Islamic Republic has, in only the first month, caused losses to the economies of Arab countries of about 150 billion dollars; a figure equivalent to four percent of the region’s GDP.

Al-Mashat said on Thursday, at an informal meeting of the UN Security Council, that the threat to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb is not only a security issue and also affects economic development, the provision of essential goods, and economic stability in the region.

She said that the sea route from the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb is an interconnected network for the transfer of energy, foodstuffs, and global trade, and that disruption in any part of it can affect the entire chain.

According to Al-Mashat, about 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade and 19% of liquefied natural gas trade pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Mashat warned that the war could delay investment and the efforts of Arab countries to diversify their economies, and called for preventing the expansion of the war, preserving freedom of navigation, and preventing disruptions in the supply of essential goods and services.