Internet shutdown hits Iran saffron exports

Shipping disruptions from the Iran war are delaying life-saving food aid to Somalia, worsening a hunger crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of children, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Longer delivery times and rising costs have reduced supplies of therapeutic food used to treat severe malnutrition, forcing clinics to ration care or turn children away, the report said, citing aid groups.

Nearly 500,000 children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition, with admissions rising as drought and aid cuts strain resources.

Deliveries that once took about a month are now delayed up to two months due to blocked Persian Gulf routes, while costs have sharply increased, limiting how many children can be treated.

Aid agencies warned the combined impact of conflict, funding shortfalls and logistical delays risks pushing more children toward life-threatening conditions.

The US naval blockade appears to be preventing Iranian crude from reaching customers, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing satellite images and maritime analyses.

Around six to eight supertankers loaded with Iranian oil were idling late last week near Chabahar, a port outside the Persian Gulf close to the blockade line, according to the report.

Smaller tankers were also seen nearby, in an area where the US Navy said it had redirected two very large crude carriers it intercepted last week, the report added.

Bloomberg said the buildup suggested Iran was still loading oil onto ships, but traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was near zero and Tehran could soon be forced to shut in production as storage runs out.

The United States will not negotiate through the press and remains firm on its red lines in dealings with Iran, a White House spokeswoman said.

“The United States will not negotiate through the press — we have been clear about our red lines and the president will only make a deal that’s good for the American people and the world,” Olivia Wales said.

Her comments came as US officials reviewed Iran’s latest proposal related to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, according to a New York Times report.

The report also cited US officials as saying that Iran’s leadership has not authorized its negotiators to make concessions on the country’s nuclear program, complicating efforts to reach a compromise or broader peace deal.

Figures from Iran’s customs administration show non-oil trade collapsed in the final month of the previous Iranian fiscal year (February 21–March 22), falling to just $6.4 billion—down 30% from the previous month and 50% from a year earlier.

The plunge coincided with military escalation that began on February 28, when US and Israel attacked Iran and Iran retaliated with strikes against Arab neighbours across the Persian Gulf.

The conflict disrupted shipping routes and strained regional trade links.

The fallout has been especially visible in trade with Iran’s main commercial partners. The United Arab Emirates, Iran’s second-largest trading partner, reportedly suspended trade with Tehran in early March.

Chinese customs data also point to a steep decline in bilateral trade. China’s non-oil trade with Iran fell to just $184 million in March, compared with more than $907 million in the same month last year—roughly one-fifth of its level a year earlier.

While Iranian customs data exclude crude oil exports, tanker-tracking data from Kpler indicate Iranian crude deliveries to Chinese ports averaged around 1.53 million barrels per day in March, about 15% lower than in March 2025, suggesting energy exports are also under pressure.

In total, Iran’s non-oil foreign trade during the last fiscal year stood at $109 billion, down 16% from the previous year. Imports accounted for 53% of the total, underscoring the economy’s reliance on foreign supplies at a time of escalating geopolitical disruption.

The outlook may worsen in the months ahead.

Following Israeli strikes on petrochemical facilities, Iran has banned petrochemical exports. On Monday, the Iran Trade Promotion Organization ordered a halt to exports of steel slabs and sheets until May 30 as the country’s steel industry came under pressure following US-Israeli strikes.

The secretary of Iran’s steel producers’ association said work was underway on an urgent plan to import steel slabs and hot-rolled sheets, underscoring the scale of the disruption.

At the same time, steel production facilities in Isfahan and Khuzestan—which account for roughly 70% of Iran’s steel output—have reportedly suffered major damage.

Together, petrochemicals and steel generate an estimated $18 billion to $20 billion in annual exports, accounting for more than one-third of Iran’s non-oil export revenues. Prolonged disruption in those sectors would hit government revenues, industrial output and access to foreign currency.

Additional pressure is also emerging at sea. In response to Iran’s move to block the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has begun enforcing a naval blockade on Iran, a development likely to further restrict both oil and non-oil trade.

With US-Iran diplomacy still deadlocked and sanctions relief appearing distant, the outlook could worsen further in the absence of a deal to ease pressure on trade and energy exports.

Taken together, the data suggest Iran may be facing not a temporary slowdown but the early stages of a historic external shock.

In Tehran, Abbas Araghchi’s whirlwind regional tour is being presented as evidence that Iran still has diplomatic options and regional leverage.

But behind the official narrative, even Iranian media and senior officials are beginning to acknowledge a harsher reality: talks with Washington are stalled, allies are limited and the country’s room to maneuver is narrowing.

The reformist daily Shargh wrote on Monday that the visits revealed “clear signs of a deadlock in negotiations with Washington.”

In an interview with ISNA, Araghchi himself acknowledged that “the first round of talks in Islamabad failed to reach its objectives,” blaming what he described as “the United States’ excessive demands.”

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