{"id":84009,"date":"2026-06-08T13:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=84009"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:13:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:13:33","slug":"100-days-iran-war-energy-shock-food-prices-oil-profits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/84009\/100-days-iran-war-energy-shock-food-prices-oil-profits\/","title":{"rendered":"100 days after the attacks on Iran: who is paying, who is profiting, and what needs to happen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been 100 days since the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran on 28 February 2026<\/a>. In that time, communities in Iran and across the wider Middle East have faced death, displacement, bombardment, blackouts, water shortages and deepening insecurity, while the shockwaves of war have spread far beyond the region through higher energy costs, rising food prices and worsening economic instability.<\/p>\n\n

The attacks were predicted to trigger the worst energy crisis in history<\/a>, according to the International Energy Agency, with around 20% of the world\u2019s liquefied natural gas (LNG)<\/a> and 25% of its seaborne oil supplies at risk in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The impact, on paper, was set to be bigger than the oil shocks of the 1970s<\/a>.

Since then, there have been multiple rounds of negotiations, ceasefire proposals and back\u2011channel talks, but fighting and strikes have continued, and the Strait of Hormuz has still not fully reopened to normal traffic, keeping markets and people on edge.<\/p>\n\n

Why it matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

This is not just a foreign policy story. It is about the price of fuel, food and transport, about who gets left exposed when economies depend on fossil fuel chokepoints, and about who gets rich when everything goes wrong. One hundred days on, the war on Iran has become another brutal reminder that fossil fuel dependency turns geopolitical violence into a global cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n\n

100 days of war, deaths, destruction and pollution<\/h2>\n\n
\"Secretary
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine conduct a press briefing on Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., March 4, 2026.
\u00a9 Flickr \/ US Department of War \/ Alexander Kubitza<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

War is killing thousands of people and wrecking lives<\/a>. In Iran and neighbouring countries, just as in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, civilians have been killed and injured in airstrikes and missile attacks, homes and apartment blocks have been reduced to rubble, and critical infrastructure like hospitals, water systems and power grids has been damaged or pushed to the brink. Families are living through repeated blackouts, water cuts and fuel shortages, and many have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety.<\/p>\n\n

The financial cost of the war on Iran is staggering too. Independent trackers<\/a> \u2013 based on sources such as the Pentagon\u2019s briefing to Congress and a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies \u2013 estimate that, in its first 100 days, the war on Iran has already cost US taxpayers more than <\/strong>100 billion US dollars<\/strong><\/a> in direct military spending and related economic losses<\/strong>, money that could have funded schools, hospitals and clean energy instead. That does not include the much longer\u2011term costs<\/a> of rebuilding shattered infrastructure, treating physical and psychological trauma, or dealing with the climate impacts of a conflict built on fossil fuel infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n

The war is also a major source of carbon pollution<\/a>. An analysis of the first 14 days of the US\u2013Israel war against Iran estimates that it generated around 5 million tonnes of CO\u2082 emissions<\/a>, roughly equal to the combined yearly emissions of the 84 lowest\u2011emitting countries in the world. Those emissions come from military jets, ships and vehicles, from burning fuel and munitions, and from fires and damage to industrial facilities and energy infrastructure.

Scientists are warning that this war is part of a wider pattern in which oil, gas and water infrastructure are deliberately turned into targets<\/a>, with consequences that can last for decades. Strikes on refineries, fuel depots, desalination plants and pipelines do not only kill and injure in the moment, they also poison air, soil and water and undermine the basic systems people rely on to survive.<\/p>\n\n

Beyond direct strikes, the war has intensified the dangers posed by oil tankers moving through one of the world\u2019s most sensitive chokepoints. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow corridor<\/a> carrying a huge share of the world\u2019s oil and LNG, and Greenpeace and other experts have long warned that it is a high\u2011risk zone for accidents, collisions and spills<\/a>. In recent months, satellite images have shown oil slicks and pollution from tanker incidents<\/a> and damaged infrastructure in and around the Gulf, underlining how quickly a military escalation in such a crowded shipping lane can turn into an environmental disaster that is literally visible from space<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

100 days of higher fuel prices and obscene war profits<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\"Greenpeace
Greenpeace UK activists project the truth about the source of Shell\u2019s huge profits onto their global headquarters by the Thames in London as well as next to a Shell petrol station.
\u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In the weeks after the attacks, fears over the Strait of Hormuz and wider regional escalation pushed Brent crude above 100 US dollars a barrel, with the spot price spiking to about 138 US dollars on 7 April<\/a> and averaging around 117 US dollars for the month. These are levels not seen since the energy price shock that followed Russia\u2019s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For households, that meant one more squeeze on already stretched budgets.<\/strong> For fossil fuel companies, it meant another jackpot.<\/p>\n\n