Iran destroys World Food Security

Introduction 1. The development for the need for fertiliser for food production. In the Bible it is laid down the agricultural regulations applying in the land of Israel to ensuring that the fields retain their potency to produce food- one year in seven the fields and vineyards should not be tended by the farmers but allowed to grow wild - a period of rest for the land. As agriculture developed around the world a system of field rotation ensued -each year one out of three fields was left fallow. This was followed by a crop rotation system where one of the three fields was used to grow leguminous crops that in growing returned nitrogen to the soil, thus ensuring that every three years each field received additional nutrients. As time passed this system was surpassed by the addition of manure to the fields that increased the crop yield. Around the late 1880’s besides adding manure the fields were enriched with Chilean nitrate extracted from the Atacama Desert and this lasted till around the 1920’s when the the production of synthetic ammonia by fixation of air by the Haber Bosch Process commenced. 2. Current fertiliser production In this Haber Bosch process atmospheric nitrogen was combined with hydrogen over an iron catalyst, the hydrogen together with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide was derived from the steam reforming of hydrocarbons (liquid or gaseous) over a nickel catalyst at high temperatures and pressures, followed by a Water Gas Shift reaction over an iron or copper catalyst where the carbon monoxide produced was reacted with steam to produced additional carbon dioxide and hydrogen - this is the basic process employed today. The nitrogen nowadays is derived from Cryogenic Air Separation plants operating at pressure. Additionally, by combining the ammonia with carbon dioxide under high pressure and moderate temperatures results in a higher grade nitrogen containing fertiliser, urea, is produced. As such, many ammonia and urea plants were established world wide based on this Western technology. The processes involved required significant energy both for compression and thermal heating. With the availability of natural gas in the mid to late 1980’s over naphtha or even coal as a feedstock ,the cost of the products decreased and consumption increased bringing with it greater yields to the agricultural sector and a more reliable source of fertilisation over natural methods. Nearly every country had its own production facilities that ranged from 150 tonnes per day in the third world to 1000 tonnes per day in the developed world. 3. Fertiliser production in Gulf States In the 1980’s the rich Gulf oil producing companies slowly embarked on a course of action that would change both world plastic and fertiliser production. It was decided that instead of just exporting crude oil as had been the case since the 1920’s where the overseas purchasing countries would refine and the subsequent downstream petrochemical processes produced raw materials for plastics production, the Gulf would instead engage in large scale refining enlarge their petrochemical industries to enable them to produce added value products like the building blocks for plastics as well as plastics, organic carbon based compounds and solvents. With very large scale modern production units that were more efficient, this enabled them to undercut the overseas prices production, increasing their added value as the crude oil raw material was available cheaply at their doorstep whilst they also forced increase in crude prices as OPEC restricted crude production to maintain higher market prices. Slowly ,but surely, they then extending this to the production of ammonia and urea fertilisers in mega sized modern efficient plants, but of course as the local market demand was small due to arid conditions they exported at a lower price than countries could produce in their own old inefficient plants, thus enabling them to dictate the price on the world market thereby becoming major international export players and leaders. 4. Impact of natural gas exploration and production in the Gulf. As the large. Scale exploration and production of natural gas took hold in the Gulf, much of which was sour ( containing hydrogen sulphide and organic sulphur compounds known as mercaptans), these had to be removed before liquifaction, since these impurities that could result in corrosion as well as odorous and poisonous gases had to be removed because they were polluting during combustion. This resulted in the production of vast quantities of solid sulphur and soon the Gulf states became major exporters - some for use in the production of the main economic indicator sulphuric acid and sulphur products, some also used in agriculture. 5. Major exporters of fertilisers Export of fertilisers is confined to a few major players on the tonnage level. The primary exporters are China, Russia, Gulf and Turkey. In 2024 the Gulf exported 34 percent of the world’s traded urea and 23 percent of ammonia in terms of nitrogen fertilisers, as well as 50 percent of the world’s sulphur and 17 percent of phosphates. In 2024 the tonnage of supply from the Gulf, sulphur accounted for 20 million, urea 17.5 million, phosphates 5 million and ammonia 3.4 million. 6. Knock on effects of the closure by Iran To compound the problem of inability to export from the Gulf by the closure by Iran of the Straits of Hormuz, China, Russia and Turkey have exacerbated the problem by imposing restrictions on their exports. Further, like the car industry, the fertiliser Industry operates on a just in time basis as storage is costly. The only country that maintains any storage is China that holds 50 percent of the world’s inventory in case of local famine. 7. The crunch The spring planting season in the Northern hemisphere is reaching its peak time in April and May, whilst in the Southern hemisphere is starting the winter planting season. As the industry operates on a just in time supply it is doubtful if they will have sufficient quantities of fertilisers to ensure maintaining crop yields, resulting ultimately in famine throughout the world. The shortage has resulted in excessive world prices and this is exacerbated by the shortage created in crude oil exports from the Gulf that has also seen wild rises in prices of refined products such as diesel. This double whammy will ultimately result in much higher food prices as well as a shortage causing near famine conditions in the world’s poorer countries producing food insecurity not seen for many generations. Dated 5 April 2026

OPEN LETTER TO THE UK PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN SECRETARY - DATED 3 AUGUST 2025 - TISHA BAV 5785 - 1955 YEARS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM

Dear Sir Kier, I am appalled to learn of the illegitimate form of international blackmail you have employed in your recent foreign policy decision, that if Israel and Israel alone, does not agree to a ceasefire by September with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, you will instruct your government to recognize a State of Palestine. Ironically, it appears your belief and that of Foreign Secretary Lammy, that Israel must supply aid in the form of food and water to an enemy that initiated the conflict on the 7 October 2023, a Jewish sacred Holyday and Sabbath, by its deliberate cross border incursion from Gaza with over 6000 combats, members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as civilians. How hypocritical, when these groups kidnapped over 250 hostages and still today hold 50 within the Gaza Strip and there has been a deafening silence from you in your proclamation to blackmail Israel. Furthermore, how is it HM Government has not protested that there has been no ICRC visits or delivery of medicines to the Israeli hostages in accordance with the international Geneva Convention in the last 666 days, whilst at the same time the bleating from Hamas propaganda about “starvation” in the Gaza Strip arouses you and your cabinet to condemn Israel. Evidence has now emerged that Hamas/PIJ deliberately starve Israeli hostages as shown by the recently released videos of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David suffering from severe malnutrition. In 1922 the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate of Palestine and in 1947 Britain relinquished the Mandate having failed to impartially carry out the terms of the Mandate by showing favour to the Arabs in order to prevent the creation of a Jewish State in the Holy Land on their ancient homeland. The Jews had lived in this land for thousands of years prior and were only conquered by the Romans in the year 70, some 1955 years ago. Then, there was no Islamic religion, since its inception in Arabia only occurred in 610 CE, some 1415 years ago, hence any claims by Islam on the land being theirs by right is plainly dismissed by history. Then, as now, during the period of the Mandate, the British officials also employed blackmail against the Jewish population - except today some 77 years after the termination of the said Mandate you apparently still think that the UK is still in charge of operating the Mandate. HM Government has no say in events in Israel or the Holy Land but has on this occasion showed partiality against the Jewish People. Indeed, HM Government props up the puppet Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with subsidies and aid taken from the UK Tax Payers. Of course, the Hashemite were a tribe originating not from the Holy Land or adjacent but were displaced from “guarding” the holy sites in Mecca and Medina in Arabia by the tribe of Saud. There still remains a deafening silence of condemnation from you and your Foreign Secretary, Lammy, of the failure of Yemen to prevent the terrorist group Houthis from attacking British shipping in both the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, effectively closing off the Suez Canal to international shipping traffic. Whist initially the UK carried out military action on the Houthi terrorists to prevent such international illegal criminal acts no blackmail was ever employed. Indeed, it is established that both the Houthis and Hamas are acting as proxies for the fundamental medieval state of Iran. In addition, due cognizance must be taken of the numerous ICBM missile and drones that the Houthis have fired against Israel some 2000 km away, constantly and without letup since 7 October 2023. Indeed, the recent attacks against Israel were at 15:30 BST on Friday 31 July 2025 and 14:33 BST on Sunday 3 August 2025 and yet there has been no concern or condemnation expressed in any international forums or indeed press/media statements by HM Government who appear far more concerned for the welfare of the families of the Gazan terrorist operatives of Hamas. I should like to enquire why HM Government is more concerned with the establishment of yet another Muslim Arab state in the region, when there already exists 21 Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. These countries in the region have vast amounts of territory and you now wish to decimate the State of Israel. The concept of a shared capital between Israel and the PA, Jerusalem, is an abomination, an affront to Judeo Christian religion and an insult to plain common sense – as said to a former British Prime Minister “ Jerusalem was our capital city 3000 years ago when London was still a ditch”. PS – Don’t send me your standard bullshit reply produced by the Foreign Office mandarins, that ignore the text of all correspondence they receive – the citizens of the UK are entitled to receive a full open response!