The issue is clear: the longer the confrontation between the United States, Israel, and Iran in the region continues, the higher the prices of energy, various commodities, food, and services will be, and the more disruptions will occur in the field of supply chains, which have suffered greatly in the early years of this decade.

Concerns involving energy costs immediately shifted to the food and related areas, including pivotal fertilizer supplies, which had already declined in the early days of the aforementioned confrontation.

The world has already faced two food crises this decade, one stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the other from the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. Supply chains were disrupted, and agricultural production declined, as the conflict spread across both countries.

Today, concerns are emerging about a potential food crisis that could last for years if the conflict in the Middle East continues. Last month, global food prices rose for the first time in five months, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index.

Although this increase is still considered slight, it is easily likely to increase in the next few weeks, especially with the rapid and direct impact on the prices of basic commodities, such as grains, meat and oils, particularly if we take into account the current disruption to fertilizer shipments, in addition to the increase in energy prices.

The greatest fear now concerns many countries already recovering from successive international crises. This confrontation also threatens the position of developing countries that, in the recent past, managed to attract agricultural investments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Prices in local markets around the world have begun to show daily increases, including of course in Western countries, which now fear a return to rising inflation due to the costs of energy and food simultaneously.

If these countries are already struggling to withstand increases in this vital sector, the situation is catastrophic for countries suffering from economic fragility and political instability. The fertilizer crisis, for example, threatens to exacerbate the "food shock" in developing countries. This crisis jeopardizes between 65 and 70 percent of the international supply of urea, the most widely used fertilizer for boosting overall agricultural growth.

In short, all experts working on global food issues agree that if the conflict in the region continues for several more weeks, it will lead to a decrease in the supply of basic commodities such as grains and animal feed, and consequently, a decrease in dairy and meat production. The FAO itself confirms that "very few countries will be able to withstand this."