Diyar Güldoğan
31 July 2026•Update: 31 July 2026
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that six months of military escalation in the Gulf has evolved from a regional conflict into a source of global instability, citing the collapse of trade through the Strait of Hormuz and its growing impact on the world economy.
"We are now six months into the military escalation in the Gulf. What began as a regional conflict is increasingly becoming a driver of global instability," Guterres said.
He said trade through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed, energy markets have been upended, and prices of food and key fertilizers have surged, while supply chains are "buckling."
"Around the world, we see families struggling to put food on the table, farmers unable to afford basic inputs, and vulnerable countries pushed closer to the edge," he added.
Guterres warned that rising prices and slowing economic growth threaten to push millions more people back into poverty, and the humanitarian consequences are mounting.
Calling for an end to the conflict, the UN chief urged all parties to restore freedom of navigation through the region's critical waterways.
"Let me be clear: The fighting must stop," he said. "International navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must be fully restored. And diplomacy must prevail."
