KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 -- When the United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, the immediate headlines focused on missiles and geopolitics. But within days, the consequences were felt much closer to home - at the petrol station, at the supermarket, and in the cost of running a factory or a farm. For Malaysians and their neighbours across Southeast Asia, a war thousands of kilometres away is now determining the price of cooking oil, the availability of diesel, and the outlook for jobs and growth.

A global shock, felt locally

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and a large share of its liquefied natural gas. When Iran moved t...