New York, April 02 (QNA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is "on the edge of a wider war" with far-reaching global consequences, calling for an immediate halt to escalation.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in New York, he cautioned that continued tensions, including risks to the Strait of Hormuz, could drive up food and energy prices, saying: "When the Strait of Hormuz is strangled, the world's poorest and most vulnerable cannot breathe".

"The spiral of death and destruction must stop,” he implored.

"Conflicts do not end on their own," Guterres concluded. "They end when leaders choose dialogue over destruction. That choice still exists. And it must be made now". (QNA)