Consequences of Iran war

Posted: 7th May 2026

Final paragraphs of Julian Borger’s article

There are more than 5,000 people dead, including the 120 primary school children killed on the first day in Minab, and counting the casualties in Lebanon.

Then there are all the indirect global costs – economic and environmental – that will take years to play out. The UN estimates that 32 million people could be plunged into poverty as a result of the war, largely through its impact on energy and fertiliser supplies.

The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has said that the $2bn (£1.5bn) a day spent on the war could have saved about 87 million people’s lives if the money had been spent on humanitarian relief.

Harder to calculate is whether the relentless bombing has shortened or lengthened the life of Iran’s regime. For now, it appears to have entrenched the military and the hardliners.

As things stand, there are more unknowns than knowns surrounding this possible breakthrough, and any progress will remain extremely fragile.

But even if the war is ended and Trump gets the peace plan sketched out in the latest reports, this war seems certain to rank right up there on the list of history’s most pointless conflicts.