Iran sits at the intersection of two systems the world depends on to eat: natural gas supply chains and Gulf shipping lanes. The 2026 conflict has put both under pressure simultaneously โ and the consequences for global fertiliser markets, food prices, and hunger in the developing world are only beginning to be understood.
Iran is not simply closing the Strait of Hormuz. It is opening it โ selectively, to ships whose cargo is settled in yuan rather than dollars. The petrodollar system has encountered its first physical, operational challenge: a chokepoint where dollar oil cannot move and yuan oil can.
Netanyahu says Israel ‘acted alone’ in striking Iran’s gas fields. Trump publicly rebuked the attack. The most significant crack in the US-Israel war coalition has appeared โ and its implications for the Iran conflict, energy markets, and the petrodollar system are immediate and structural.
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