Iran war, Hormuz closure blocking vital aid to over 400,000 children, Save the Children says

The US-Israeli war with Iran is obstructing key delivery routes for humanitarian supplies, delaying shipments of lifesaving aid for nearly half a million children far beyond the region, the Save the Children nonprofit says.

The charity warns that the war is disrupting key air, sea and land routes, with dire ripple effects on global aid supplies.

Since US-Israeli strikes on the Iranian regime began on February 28, Tehran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East and threats that have nearly halted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies normally passes.

Aid deliveries have been heavily impacted, with shipping costs soaring up to 50 percent in some cases as the shipments are rerouted, Save the Children says.

This has left lifesaving aid intended for at least 410,000 children and their families in crisis-ravaged Sudan, Afghanistan and Yemen stuck in the Middle East.

“The escalating conflict is having grave ripple effects for children far beyond the region,” Willem Zuidema, the NGO’s head of global supply chains, says in a statement.

One shipment of medical supplies bound for Sudan is stuck in Dubai due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the charity says. This is putting more than 90 primary health care facilities across Sudan at risk of running out of essential medicines, it adds.

Those medical supplies include antibiotics, antimalarials, deworming treatments and pain and fever medicines intended to support over 400,000 children in Sudan, it says.

The charity says it is exploring alternative routes to Sudan, including by road across Saudi Arabia to Jeddah and then by sea to Port Sudan.

This, it warned, “could add $1,000–$2,000 per container in costs.”

Critical nutrition supplies intended to support 5,000 children and 1,400 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Afghanistan have also been impacted, Save the Children says.

The charity says it also has a shipment of medicines, including antibiotics, for around 5,000 children in Yemen, which remains stuck in Dubai.

Zuidema calls on all parties to the conflict to “facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian assistance to children.”