World News: The Iranian Stranglehold on Global Economies

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Category: World News

Published on Monday, 04 May 2026 11:08

Written by Olivier Longhi

The US-Iran conflict has awakened the urgency of initiating a process of massive electrification of contemporary economies to stop dependency on fossil fuels. A laudable and imperative idea that calls for heavy investments of time and resource.

The oil crisis and shock linked to the US-Iran conflict and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a consequence of the confrontation mentioned above, have had the almost immediate effect of reviving the debate on the planet's energy dependence on black gold. While the price of a barrel of oil is soaring a little more every day to heights that are becoming difficult to sustain, some are reviving the idea of a massive electrification of entire sectors of the economy.

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The idea is not new because it also refers to the challenges of global warming, where greenhouse gases play a fundamental role. So, electrify, yes, but in what time frame and at what cost? Because it is very likely that the US-Iran conflict will have ended before the massive and global transition processes have been completed or even begun.

Mass Electricity

Of course, in this kind of project, it is necessary to have a long-term vision because the upheavals that the Middle East is experiencing today will most likely be recurrent as they have been for almost 80 years now.

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However, while reducing the role of fossil fuels in contemporary economies is commendable and imperative, it also has an effect that should be addressed now, namely, how to produce electricity on a massive scale. The answer lies in the proliferation of nuclear power plants and their procession of radioactive waste (editor's note: Cesium-137 loses 50% of its radioactivity in 30 years and 99.9% in 300 years).

To date, alternative solutions, such as photovoltaic panels, hydroelectric or wind power solutions, although effective, cannot be a sustainable and adaptable substitute for the whole of humanity unless we devote ourselves fully to them on a global scale, starting now. But by analyzing our respective economies as closely as possible, we note that they were designed around the use of heavy fossil fuels (gas, coal, oil) and that any transition would generate secondary effects on employment, competitiveness and productivity of the economies in question.

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The only automotive sector, whose sales of electric cars have jumped since the beginning of the crisis, remains, despite its efforts (the global fleet of electric cars reached 74.3 million units at the end of 2025, with China accounting for 60% of the global fleet), still based on fossil fuel cars (petrol or diesel).

The challenge therefore remains unresolved, even if the current conflict gives the transition agenda a salutary urgency but which must also be confronted with reality, the electrification of contemporary economies, which is certainly imperative, can only be undertaken step by step and therefore over the long term. Almost regardless of the current conflict, which is only temporary while the urgency of electrification is pressing.

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently a professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist and recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, was a press and publishing consultant, and was a communications consultant.