The World Bank warns that a potential US-Iran conflict could significantly weaken the global economy, cutting its outlook for 2026 growth to 2.5%. Both reports attribute the downgrade to spillover effects from the Middle East situation, especially disruption to energy markets that drives up energy prices. Higher energy costs feed into broader inflation pressures, which then raise borrowing costs for households and businesses. The World Bank links these combined factors to a slower pace of global economic activity, saying the impact could be severe relative to major recent shocks. The bank frames the risk as pulling growth toward “post-COVID” lows, reflecting how interconnected financial and commodity markets magnify conflict-related stress. While the coverage focuses on the economic forecast, it does not specify the precise scenario assumptions used for the growth cut. Overall, the common message across the outlets is that worsening tensions between the United States and Iran are associated with elevated energy, inflation, and financing risks that weigh on worldwide growth.