NEW YORK, March 31. /TASS/. Arab countries may lose nearly $200 billion due to the Middle East conflict, delivering a serious blow to economic growth in the region, Bloomberg reported, citing a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report.
A short-lived military escalation in the Middle East could "generate profound and widespread socio-economic impacts" across the Arab States region, the experts noted.
According to their estimates, the overall losses could push the regional unemployment rate up by as much as four percentage points, costing some 3.6 million jobs and forcing up to four million people into poverty.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia — may lose more than 5.2% of their GDP, the report adds.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, striking major cities, including Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a large-scale retaliatory operation targeting Israel. US military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also struck.
Iranian authorities also decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to vessels linked to the US, Israel, and countries supporting aggression against the Islamic Republic. During the conflict, several tankers were attacked for passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission. On March 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran had allowed passage through the Strait of Hormuz for friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China, and Pakistan.