Iran sends harsh warning to GCC countries

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states are considering building group emergency food stocks, amid threats by Iran to block their main supply route, but politics and practical hurdles could prove insurmountable, food security experts say.   

Three of the GCC's members - Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar - are almost entirely dependent on the narrow shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz for imported food supplies.    

Although they have options outside the straits, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia also import a large share of food and other consumer goods through ports in the Gulf, with only Oman's food supplies unlikely to be unaffected by any disruption to shipping through Hormuz.   

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if western moves to ban Iranian crude exports cripple its lifeblood energy sector.   

The GCC aims to improve coordination, integration and inter-connections between its six member states across all fields including trade, customs, scientific research and joint ventures.   

Because of their reliance on one supply route to feed their booming populations, most GCC members have their own reserves but talk of a regional tie-up of stockpiles has been going on for years.   

"This is one of the options we are looking into," Abdullah al-Shibli, GCC assistant secretary general for economic affairs, told Reuters at a food security forum in Abu Dhabi.    

The deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Nadim Khouri, said a regional system of stocks to meet around three months of consumption should work more effectively at times of crisis than separately managed stocks.   

"This has been one element in an overall strategy that has been discussed for years," Khouri said.   

"At this point we are only discussing it at the technical level," Khouri said.   

The Khartoum-based Arab Authority for Agriculture Investment and Development (AAAID) said last month it was considering building 3-6 months worth of storage capacity in the GCC.