The spiralling conflict in Iran has highlighted the potential vulnerability of Gulf states when it comes to food and water security. Countries like Bahrain and Qatar depend heavily on desalinated water, and strikes on desalination plants have sparked concern about water supplies. Meanwhile, the usual flow of food imports through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the fighting.
Christian Henderson, lecturer in International Relations and Middle East Studies at Leiden University, says any concerted targeting of water facilities would represent an escalation in hostilities. "The Gulf states are growing economies, large economies, they have large tourism sectors and large service economies. All of these activities depend on water in some form or another – either directly as drinking water but also all kinds of other uses."
Regional governments say they're not worried about food shortages, but Henderson warns there will be knock-on effects. "In any type of war, you will always find problems with food security because it just causes a huge amount of disruption to supply chains, deliveries, logistics. So Iran will be facing some problems in terms of food supplies. And moreover, and this will affect everyone, just the general inflationary shock that will be created by this war will spill over into food prices – within Iran, in the Gulf states, and across the global economy."
Watch moreCentral banks confront spectre of inflation as Iran war escalates
Henderson says the conflict could be a turning point for Gulf economies. "This war has really illustrated how, despite the huge fiscal capacity of the Gulf states, and their logistical sector, there's still an exposure to geopolitics and the instabilities of the region. And the only real means of mitigating that is by increasing domestic production."
Also in the show, our correspondents Chloé Domat and Amira Souilem report on Qatar's efforts to become more self-sufficient by investing in desert farms.
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