Amman, June 5 (Petra)-- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Friday that millions of people are struggling to meet their basic food needs and, in some cases, are being pushed into acute hunger as a result of the war in Iran.

A new WFP report, released Friday and examining the impact of the crisis on some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, revealed that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Sri Lanka, and 2.3 million in Afghanistan are struggling to secure sufficient food, with many facing acute food insecurity due to the ongoing conflict.

Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis at the WFP, said early warnings are only meaningful "if the world acts on them," according to CNN.

"We warned that this crisis could push millions of people into hunger, and now we are seeing that happen," Bauer said. "In many cases, the world’s poorest families even those far from the epicenter of the crisis are suffering the most severe consequences." The WFP said the devastating effects of the conflict are expected to worsen in the coming months, even if tensions in the Middle East begin to ease.

In March, the agency projected that as many as 45 million people could face acute food insecurity if the conflict in the Middle East continued to drive up global oil prices.

According to the WFP, that scenario is now beginning to materialize.

//Petra// MF