Iran: Middle East Regional Crisis Concept of Operations

Countries: Iran (Islamic Republic of), Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Sources: Logistics Cluster, World Food Programme Please refer to the attached file. Background The humanitarian consequences of escalating hostilities in the Middle East have intensified since the beginning of the situation in February 2026, complicating the operating environment for humanitarian actors. The region is facing a severe humanitarian situation driven by the convergence of active conflict, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, and preexisting vulnerabilities linked to sanctions, restrictions, and environmental stress. Since late February, intensified hostilities and airstrikes have damaged infrastructure, homes, health facilities, schools, and critical utilities, and have triggered largescale population movement in multiple countries. 1 The effects of the situation extend across the region, with primary operational impacts across Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, and Iran, and creating supply chain and market disruptions in neighbouring countries and regions, including East Africa. Concurrent shocks across these contexts have disrupted regional transport corridors, airspace, ports, border crossings, and fuel supply chains. These factors have resulted in increasingly complex, cross border logistics challenges, characterized by frequent rerouting, congestion, and rapidly changing regulatory and customs environments. The scale and geographic spread of these disruptions have highlighted the need for strengthened regional coordination and harmonized information management beyond country-level analysis. In this context, a Regional Logistics Coordination Cell was established to support systemwide coordination and information management across primary affected countries in the Middle East and the surrounding regions experiencing the secondary effects of supply chain and market disruptions. The cell focuses on joint analysis, structured information sharing, and the consolidation of data related to supply routes, corridors, border points, airspace and airport status, customs procedures, and other logistics constraints that are evolving in response to the conflict. Through standardized mapping products, route tracking, and regular updates on bottlenecks and access constraints, the coordination mechanism aims to support informed operational planning and decision making by humanitarian actors operating across and beyond the region.
2026-04-09 11:10:05