GENEVA, March 17 — Tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the Iran war continues through to June, according to analysis from the World Food Programme released on Tuesday.
The US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began on February 28 have choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises.
An extra 45 million are projected to be pushed into acute hunger because of rises in food, oil and shipping costs, pushing the global tally above its current record level of 319 million, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva.
Iranian rescue workers search for victims among the rubble following a strike on a residential building in central Tehran, Iran, on March 16, 2026. Iranian Red Crescent/UPI/Shutterstock Smoke emerges from the Source Blessing cargo vessel on March 12, 2026. AFPTV/UGC/WANG SHANG/AFP via Getty Images A view of major destruction at Javadiyeh and Beryanak districts as a result of US-Israeli attacks in Tehran, Iran, on March 17, 2026. Anadolu via Getty Images“This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” he said.
“Already, before this war, we were in a perfect storm where hunger has never been as severe as now, in terms of numbers and how deep that hunger is,” he added.
Skau said its shipping costs are up 18% since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28 and that some have had to be rerouted.
The extra costs come on top of deep spending cuts by the WFP, as donors focus more on defence, he added.
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