AMMAN, March 31, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The war sparked by the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran and which has spread across the Middle East has cost Arab countries $186 billion, a top UN official said Tuesday, as he called for an immediate halt to the fighting. Al Dardari, who is also a top UN official for the Arab region, said the countries of the oil-rich Gulf were shouldering the heaviest burden. The war that erupted with a US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 spread quickly across the region, as Iran launched retaliatory attacks targeting Gulf countries and Israel. "The Arab economy relies on virtually a single commodity; even countries that do not export oil depend on remittances from expatriates in oil-exporting countries and on aid from those same countries, while the oil-exporting countries themselves rely on a single product," he said. "This fragility in the Arab economy is demonstrated by recent events, which prove that it is unsustainable."

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha March 31, 2026 14:36 UTC