By R Anil Kumar
New York/ Bengaluru, July 9, 2026. Renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran reportedly brought shipping to a near-standstill in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, leaving around 6,000 seafarers stranded aboard hundreds of vessels and Gulf countries on high alert for further attacks.
Echoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s alarm at the resumption of strikes and counterstrikes between the US and Iran, UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council Member States on Thursday condemned Iran for its “continued threats” and alleged attacks against multiple Gulf States and their territorial waters.
In a call to protect “vital shipping lanes”, several countries – including Bahrain, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia – underscored the impact on sea transport “particularly in and around the Strait of Hormuz”, a key global energy lifeline.
In a separate submission, Iran alleged “armed interference with Iranian commercial vessels” and “aggression carried out by the United States” and Israel.
The agency’s Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez insisted that all transit through the Strait should be avoided “until the necessary safety conditions are in place” and noted that the evacuation of stranded seafarers would remain on hold for security reasons.
According to IMO data, 136 ships have been evacuated along with 2,900 seafarers to date.
Deadly toll
According to Iranian health authorities, 14 people have been killed in the last two days of hostile exchanges, while dozens more have been injured in strikes across five provinces.
Tuesday’s reported attacks in the Strait of Hormuz also caused a temporary spike in crude oil prices which recovered on Thursday to around $77 per barrel, still higher than pre-war levels.
The renewed hostilities came after three merchant ships were reportedly struck on Tuesday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite a truce agreement signed by Iran and the US on 17 June.
Truce deal under pressure
That 14-point memorandum of understanding called for the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
It also specified 60 days of negotiations to achieve a “final deal” on issues including uranium enrichment by Iran, which also had to reaffirm that it does not intend to develop a nuclear weapon.
Other requirements listed in the memorandum’s text include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping and an easing of US and UN Security Council sanctions on the Middle East nation.
The waterway carries about one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies and before the war around 130 commercial ships passed through it each day.
Global economy ‘broadly resilient’
The heads of the International Energy Agency (IAEA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group and World Trade Organization said on Wednesday that the global economy has been broadly resilient to the shock from the simmering war in the Middle East, even as some economies have experienced a slowdown in growth and an uptick in inflation.
Meeting as part of a coordination group set up in April, the four institutions encouraged further progress toward a resolution to the conflict and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, noting fuel and fertilizer prices have eased since June.
They urged governments to uphold freedom of navigation and strengthen energy and food security as uncertainty over the conflict’s economic fallout persists.
US-Iran war: Renewed attacks in Strait of Hormuz prompt another global energy alert
Renewed attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz unsettled energy markets on Wednesday and prompted calls from the UN maritime agency, IMO, for “maximum restraint and de-escalation”.
Amid reports that three merchant vessels were hit along with Iranian targets, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez condemned “reckless attacks” in the past two days against several ships transiting the narrow waterway, a vital conduit for a significant proportion of the world’s energy needs.
Huge risk, warns Guterres
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the resumption of strikes and counterstrikes between the United States and Iran in the past 24 hours were “alarming” and risked derailing diplomatic progress made since a ceasefire framework was agreed in April.
“A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences for the peoples of the region, for international peace and security, and for the global economy as a whole,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
“These reckless attacks have again placed innocent seafarers in grave danger. No seafarer should have to risk their life simply for doing their job,” Mr. Dominguez said, as he warned flag States, shipowners and operators not to expose seafarers to “unnecessary danger” by transiting the Strait.
Why this matters:
- Renewed Hormuz attacks trigger global energy security concerns
- Guterres warns of catastrophic consequences for region and global economy if full blown US-Iran war resumes
- Thousands of seafarers remain stranded amid shipping disruptions
- UN warns prices and supply volatility may worsen
- Heatwaves could intensify energy demand and infrastructure strain
Some 6,000 seafarers remain stranded in the channel on hundreds of vessels which used to transit at a rate of around 130 a day.
That number is vastly reduced today, although shipping levels picked up before the latest escalation, in line with an agreement on a temporary ceasefire – part of a memorandum of understanding – last month between the United States and Iran.
Responding to the latest escalation, the UN economic commission for Europe, UNECE, said that the already challenging situation for countries which rely on energy from the Gulf was set to continue, after more than 100 days of disruption.
“We can expect prices and price volatility to remain high and supply disruptions – especially in local markets – to continue for the months ahead,” said Dario Liguti, Director of Energy, Housing and Land Management Division at the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
The senior UN economist explained that although a global shortage of fuel and fertilizers has been avoided, the effects of this year’s disruption will still be felt “even if the situation normalizes rapidly”. Strategic oil reserves are also at their lowest levels for decades, Mr. Liguti stressed.
“If the instability does continue, we should get ready for another rise in prices and a larger-scale raw material shortage,” he told UN News.
Heatwaves fuel uncertainty
A further complication compounding these shocks are this summer’s extreme heatwaves, fuelled by a strong El Niño which is forecast to strengthen in the coming months and “increase energy consumption for cooling, impact energy infrastructure, and affect water availability for power plant cooling”, Mr. Liguti explained
To counter these impacts – including on public transport networks – the UNECE official stressed the need to urgently build resilience to renewed energy shocks, to save energy through efficiency measures, reduce pressure on limited resources by cutting overall energy consumption and stock up on reserves.
“Longer term, we are also seeing renewed interest in many countries in investing in domestic energy production and distribution capacity and renewables,” Mr. Liguti noted.
