When the US and Israel carried out multiple airstrikes across Iran on 28 February, including one that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it sparked a war that still rages on almost three weeks later.
According to BBC reports, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the reason for the attacks on 28 February as a “pre-emptive strike” in order to “remove threats against the state of Israel”. Both Israel and the US are opposed to Iran’s nuclear programme, and claim Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb – something Iran has denied.
Speaking to the drinks business this week at ProWein Düsseldorf, Pavel Zahariev, sales director for closures firm Herti UK, said that although there has so far been “no direct impact” on the company “as we don’t source any of our raw materials from that part of the world”, Herti will nonetheless feel the effect of the Iran war “very soon”.
“The main issue is energy, and the rising cost of oil and gas that is needed to produce our products and transport goods,” he said. “Converting aluminium sheets into screwcaps for bottles is a fairly energy-intensive process so there will be a knock-on effect. How long does it take for the price of petrol to go up on the forecourt? Not long.”
He added that “some people are already introducing force majeure clauses” to protect themselves. A force majeure is a provision that excuses a party from performing its obligations due to unforeseeable, uncontrollable, and exceptional events such as natural disasters, wars, pandemics, or government actions. In simple terms, it protects parties from liability when external circumstances make it impossible to meet prior agreements.
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