Saudis give European oil buyers no supplies for next month
New York
Global trade is facing its worst disruption in 80 years as supply chain bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz threaten global food and fertilizer prices, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) director-general warned.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaking on the sidelines of the WTO’s Public Forum in Geneva, told Anadolu that the global trading system remains resilient, but the ongoing Middle East conflict presents a major test for the organization’s 166 member countries.
She noted that global trade in goods grew by an unexpectedly strong 4.6% this year despite geopolitical pressures, while 72% of all global commerce continued to operate under WTO rules. The initial projection for overall goods trade growth was 1.9% for the entire year, but the first-quarter growth rate of 3.2% outpaced expectations.
Okonjo-Iweala stated that a significant portion of the momentum was driven by the surging trade in artificial intelligence, which in turn was driven by low-or-zero tariff agreements covering $3 trillion in global semiconductor and chip shipments.
Saudis give European oil buyers no supplies for next month
Saudi Aramco told at least two oil refining customers in Europe that they will be allocated no crude next month under long-term agreements after the kingdom’s key pipeline to the Red Sea was attacked, people informed of the decision said, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
European customers normally receive Saudi Arabian crude on so-called term contracts, ensuring a steady flow of supply every month. Those deliveries will not take place next month, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The decision applies to all European buyers, they said.
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia earlier informed European customers that some crude cargoes would be cancelled after drone attacks forced the shutdown of its East-West pipeline, damaging three pumping stations and disrupting oil loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
US strikes on school, sports ground were ‘clear war crimes’ not ‘operational errors’: Iran’s deputy FM
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi said on Friday that the United States’ attacks in Minab and Lamerd were “clear war crimes, not an operational error.”
In a post on X, Gharibabadi stated, “History will not forget; in Minab, a school was painted with the blood of 168 children, and in Lamerd, the sports ground turned into a slaughterhouse for civilians.”
The deputy foreign minister added, “America cannot escape its responsibility by withdrawing from the Human Rights Council.”
White House rejects UN report on alleged war crimes in Iran
Separately, a United Nations fact-finding mission on Iran said it had “reasonable grounds” to believe the US was behind two military strikes on a school and sports facility in Iran in February, and that these constituted war crimes.
The findings in the report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined the US’s conduct during the Iran war and the Iranian government’s response to nationwide unrest that began in late December.
The White House rejected the report, according to Al Jazeera. Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly stated that the UN Human Rights Council had “accomplished nothing for human rights while spouting unserious nonsense for decades,” as per remarks carried by The New York Post.
“The only party in this conflict that has committed war crimes is the Iranian regime, which has murdered thousands of its own people, killed Americans overseas, executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, and launched indiscriminate attacks against its neighbours in the region,’ the spokeswoman added, according to The New York Post.
