Why does the war with Iran threaten the global economy?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It could be that the US-Israel war with Iran ends soon. That was the message from Donald Trump this week. But it may not. The longer the war continues the more collateral damage to the world economy. Mostly because of the impact of energy prices. But why are we all so vulnerable still to events in one small part of the world and one tiny channel, the infamous Strait of Hormuz? David Aaronovitch asks what it tells us about the problems of global energy and oil dependency and what could be done to alleviate them.
Guests: Ben Chu, Policy and Analysis Correspondent, BBC Verify Duncan Weldon, Economist and author Bill Farren-Price, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Gas Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities
Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower and Kirsteen Knight Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.2 | It may be over soon, victory declared. It may not. The longer the US-Israeli war with Iran continues, |
| 0:16.6 | the more the collateral damage to the world economy. Mostly because of the impact on energy prices. |
| 0:23.5 | But why are we all so vulnerable still to events in one small part of the world |
| 0:29.2 | and one tiny channel in that small part, the infamous Strait of Hormuz? |
| 0:34.7 | What does it tell us about the problems of global energy and oil dependency and what could be done to alleviate them? |
| 0:41.5 | Step into the briefing room and together we'll find out. |
| 0:48.5 | First, that dire strait. |
| 0:51.1 | I'm joined by Ben Chou, policy and analysis correspondent for BBC Verify. Ben Choo, |
| 0:56.2 | what's the big problem in the Strait of Hormuz? Well, the Strait of Hormuz is this narrow |
| 1:00.8 | waterway that separates the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Gulf and ultimately the Indian Ocean |
| 1:06.6 | and the wider world. It's a very, very narrow waterway. It's only about 24 miles wide at its narrowest point. |
| 1:14.2 | And actually, the shipping lanes are only about two miles wide. |
| 1:16.7 | So it's extremely constricted. |
| 1:18.8 | And a huge amount of the world's energy comes through there. |
| 1:21.8 | Also a huge amount of the world's fertilizers, a large share of the world's metals as well. |
| 1:25.7 | The problem is that as a result of the US and Israel |
| 1:30.9 | war with Iran, those vital resources can't get out of that area, creating big problems for the |
| 1:37.4 | world economy. Which countries specifically are we talking about, who are locked up, if you like, |
| 1:41.9 | behind the strait? Yeah. So to the north of the strait is Iran, and then directly south is the United Arab Emirates and Oman, |
| 1:48.8 | and also Saudi Arabia. |
| 1:49.9 | And further up, in the Persian Gulf, you've got Iraq and Kuwait, which use the strait to get their oil out as well. |
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