Amirhossein Arabpour, an expert from the Economic Diplomacy Institute, discussed the economic repercussions of the imposed war by the U.S. and the Israeli regime during a live roundtable on Mnews Pakistan:
Arabpour stated that following the outbreak of this war, the strategic Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed, allowing only vessels and oil tankers permitted by Iran to pass through. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in the production of oil, gas, and petroleum derivatives in the region’s countries, especially Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq, since they cannot store these materials for long periods. Consequently, oil prices have surged above $100, and if the war continues, a price of $150 per barrel is not out of the question.
He noted that after the suspension of LNG production in Qatar, the price of urea, a key and strategic commodity, has increased by over 50%, leading to a crisis in urea production at many refineries in the region, particularly in India.
Moreover, he claimed that another consequence of this regional war is the downturn in stock markets and cryptocurrencies; for instance, the U.S. stock market lost over $800 billion in a single day, and this heavy loss is spreading to financial markets in Asia and Europe.
In response to a question from the host about the vulnerability of the Iranian economy due to this war, Arabpour noted that while war generally harms the business environment, the Islamic Republic of Iran has endured the most severe economic sanctions for over 20 years and has faced various crises. Therefore, the economic resilience of this large country is quite high. He added that if one travels to Iran, they will find people in all cities easily purchasing necessary goods without issues regarding their livelihoods. Moreover, during this period, currency stability and inflation rates have also remained steady.
