Iran conflict could ‘bring down the economies of the world,’ warns one of the Middle East’s biggest energy exporters

The war in Iran shows few signs of winding down—and with de-escalation looking unlikely in the near term, the conflict risks becoming a protracted one that destabilizes the broader Middle East and weighs on the global economy.

As the conflict in Iran closes out its first week, neighboring powers are starting to take stock of what damage the war has already dealt and where it might go from here. The Middle East has partly built its modern reputation on its role as the global oil and gas trade’s supplier-in-chief. But with tankers unable to navigate dangerous waters and missiles constantly streaking across the sky—some targeting crucial energy infrastructure—the effect on the fuel trade is already pronounced. Leaders warn that the longer the war lasts, the worse it will be for the global economy.

“This will bring down the economies of the world,” Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and CEO of its state-owned energy company, told the Financial Times on Friday. “If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted. Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher.” 

Qatar, like all of the major oil and gas exporters along the Persian Gulf, has had to almost entirely halt shipments over the past week. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that links the Gulf to the rest of the world has been at a standstill ...