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Lanka braces for fallout of Iran war
View(s):- Enough oil in storage, says CPC, but it fears rising prices; tea exports to take a heavy toll if conflict prolongs
- As air travel to and from remains curtailed, Foreign Ministry says it is closely monitoring safety of Lankans in West Asia
Sri Lanka is bracing for impacts on multiple fronts as yesterday’s joint military attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States and Iran’s retaliatory strikes aimed at US bases in West Asia threaten to unleash a wider war across the region.
Israel and the US struck cities across Iran, including targets in the country’s capital, Tehran, yesterday. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel and at Arab states that house key US military installations – Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
National carrier SriLankan Airlines and private operator FitsAir announced yesterday that they were suspending flights to destinations in the region, as well as routes that require the use of the closed airspace. The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) stated that it has activated a special operational programme to assist flights and passengers travelling to and from Sri Lanka following airspace closures in parts of the affected region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it is in close contact with all the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions in the region to ensure the safety of the large Sri Lankan migrant worker contingent and will continue to monitor the developments. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Thushara Rodrigo told the Sunday Times yesterday, “The Sri Lankan missions have set up emergency hotlines enabling the people to contact the mission and remain in touch in case of any emergency requirements.”
Since some of the countries in the war zone have closed their airspace and advised those in the country to refrain from unnecessary internal travel, Mr Rodrigo urged Sri Lankans in these locations to act according to instructions from local authorities.
According to figures released by the Foreign Ministry, in terms of affected countries, there are 350,000 Sri Lankans in the UAE, 246,139 in Saudi Arabia, 175,000 in Kuwait, 140,000 in Qatar, 30,000 in Israel, 14,500 in Jordan and 13,130 in Bahrain. The number of Sri Lankans in Iran is 35, according to the ministry.
There are also concerns that a prolonged conflict could lead to supply chain disruptions.
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman Janaka Rajakaruna said that crude oil and refined oil products coming through West Asia are likely to have a “severe impact” owing to the situation.
“We expect our region to feel a severe impact in two to three weeks should the conflict continue,” he said. Mr Rajakaruna said he did not expect a dramatic rise in oil prices locally since there were sufficient stocks to last a month. “However, we expect a hike in oil prices in a month’s time if the situation doesn’t stabilise, given global crude oil prices too are likely to rise.” The CPC chairman urged consumers not to resort to stocking up on fuel, emphasising that there is no shortage of fuel in the country.
With the oil-producing West Asian region engulged in a conflict, panicked motorists in Sri Lanka lined up at fuel stations despite the CPC assuring them that the country has enough stocks to last more than a month Pix by Hiran Priyankara
The conflict is also expected to hit the country’s tea industry. About 50-52% of Sri Lanka’s tea exports go to and through West Asia and North Africa, meaning that there will be a major impact on exports, said Anil Cooke, Managing Director of Asia Siyaka Commodities PLC. Most of the tea that goes to and through the region is primarily low-grown tea of a higher value, he pointed out.
A long-drawn conflict could also lead to shipping disruptions in the Red Sea and the Straits of Hormuz, with ships forced to go around the Horn of Africa, he added.
Tea shipments to countries such as China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will be unaffected, Mr Cooke said, but he cautioned there is uncertainty over the availability of containers due to disruptions in the global flow of shipping.
A rise in insurance costs for shipping, delayed shipments and an overall rise in shipping costs are some of the immediate impacts from the crisis that will have an overall negative impact on the country’s fragile economy.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting yesterday.
The session due to start at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) will address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations said. The meeting was urged by France and Bahrain, according to the Israeli delegation to the world body.
As US and Israeli attacks hit several targets across Iran, a barrage of Iranian strikes caused havoc across the Gulf yesterday, shattering the aura of peace so highly prized by the oil-rich region’s wealthy rulers.
Missiles streaked across clear desert skies as smoke plumed from US bases in Manama and Abu Dhabi and loud thuds shook high-rise windows in Dubai.
In Qatar, dozens of people fled in panic as a falling missile plunged into a residential neighbourhood, erupting in a fireball as it hit the street.
And in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital, golfers enjoying a quiet round were stunned to see dozens of projectiles flying overhead.
The Gulf monarchies have worked hard to stay on the periphery of Middle East conflict, relying on their stability to attract business, trade and tourism.
The staunch US allies have carefully courted Iran, their powerful Shia neighbour. Saudi Arabia, a rival heavyweight, mended ties with Tehran after a seven-year rupture in 2023.
Given their reputation for calm, Saturday’s sudden attacks on US military bases caused widespread shock among the Gulf’s diverse, expat-heavy populations.
In Bahrain’s capital Manama, residents were hurriedly evacuated from the Juffair district housing the US navy’s Fifth Fleet, whose base was hit in the attack.
“When we heard the sounds, we cried out of fear,” said Jana Hassan, a 15-year-old school student, who was visiting a friend in the area.
“We didn’t know what to do… I will never forget the sound of those loud blasts.”
In Dubai, the Middle East’s commercial hub with the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, residents looked up to see missiles surge through the sky.
“It was a rumble and then a bang,” one resident told AFP, asking not to be named.- ‘Very scary and very loud’ -
An American resident of Qatar’s capital Doha, who also asked not to be identified, heard two blasts as she was driving home, where she “heard several more and the glass was shaking”.
She said she was “furious” about the instability, after 20 years of living in Qatar. Her teenage sons, she said, are “asking me if we will have to go back home”.
Qatar was targeted twice last year, when Iran mounted a telegraphed attack on the Al Udeid US base in June and Israel struck a Hamas meeting in Doha in September.
Those attacks were a Gulf rarity at the time. The UAE had not been troubled since a deadly assault by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in 2022, whose attacks on Saudi Arabia have also stopped in recent years.
“As a Lebanese, I am traumatised,” a 31-year-old expat and mother of two living in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, told AFP.
“We came to the Gulf because it’s known to be safer than Lebanon. Now I don’t know what to do or how to think really,” added the woman, who did not want to be named.
Another Riyadh resident, from Jordan, said: “It was honestly very scary and very loud.
“I was just walking out with my little boy when we suddenly heard the blast. People around us were looking up at the sky, trying to understand what was happening.
“It’s not something you expect in Riyadh.”
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