Overview
- UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper warned the world is heading for a food crisis because fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are being blocked.
- The World Food Programme said continued interruptions through June could drive up to 45 million more people into acute food insecurity.
- Ship traffic has collapsed from 125–140 passages a day to about 10, and only three supertankers with roughly 6 million barrels have managed to exit in recent days as risks stay high.
- Pakistan’s effort to broker US–Iran talks has stalled after Tehran objected to the partial closure of the strait and to recent US seizures of Iranian vessels.
- G7 ministers and the UN warn the blockage is lifting oil and gas prices, which can fuel inflation and raise transport and food costs worldwide.