Hormuz fertiliser deal needed within weeks, UN off...

Summary

• A Hormuz fertiliser deal between the US and Iran must come within weeks or farmers will miss the planting season, an official overseeing the UN plan said.
• “If we miss that planting season, the productivity of agriculture would significantly drop,” Moreira da Silva said.
• Moreira da Silva argued that the Hormuz fertiliser scheme could proceed while wider talks go on.

AI Generated Summary

A Hormuz fertiliser deal between the US and Iran must come within weeks or farmers will miss the planting season, an official overseeing the UN plan said.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, a UN Under-Secretary-General, warned that a delay could spark a food crisis across parts of Asia and Africa. “It’s absolutely crucial to get the deal in the next few weeks,” he said.

He gave the interview in Bangkok on Wednesday, where the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were under way. He also serves as executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services.

How the Hormuz fertiliser plan works

Back in March, the UN formed a taskforce to get fertiliser moving through the strait. Its scheme is drawn up but not yet running. If Washington and Tehran strike a deal, he said, it could start within a week to 10 days.