Salalah Summit Aims to Ease Strait of Hormuz Tensions
The Middle East is bracing for a crisis of confidence as renewed escalation threatens to disrupt global supply lines. The World Trade Organization has issued an SOS, warning that geopolitical tensions and conflict-driven shipping disruptions are clouding the outlook for global supply chains and transport costs.
The International Energy Agency has also warned of a drop in global oil supply and demand due to the ongoing volatility, which will lead to soaring fuel prices. Preliminary data showed that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had dropped to just seven vessels a day on Friday.
The situation is further complicated by the Houthis' advance on Perim Island at the mouth of Bab El-Mandeb, effectively choking Saudi Arabia's oil exports on both flanks of the Red Sea. This has necessitated sustained diplomacy in the face of forces bent on furthering the conflict.