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Economy & Business

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China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

The establishment of an entity seeking to control maritime transportation in the Strait of Hormuz is the latest sign that Iran wants to formalize authority in the strategic waterway.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly speaks in Beirut on Dec. 19, 2025.

Egypt ramps up energy investments amid war-driven price pressures

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Wednesday that Egypt has secured commitments exceeding $19 billion from international oil companies over the next three years.

Latest News

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran strikes UAE’s Fujairah oil hub as US pushes Hormuz reopening

Meysam MIRZADEH / TASNIM NEWS / AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

The Public Investment Fund, PIF, presence during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2024, in Indian Wells, California.

What’s behind Saudi Public Investment Fund’s $17.2B profit?

The sovereign wealth fund’s turnaround following the loss in 2022 is due in large part to the stock market rebounding.

This picture taken December 12, 2019 shows a man monitoring the board at the Stock Exchange Market (Tadawul) bourse in Riyadh. - Energy giant Saudi Aramco's market value soared above $2 trillion as its share price surged again on its second day of trading. The valuation milestone was sought by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he first floated the idea of selling up to five percent of Aramco, the world's largest oil firm, about four years ago. Aramco shares jumped another 9.7 percent to 38.60 riya

Is Saudi Arabia’s $100B foreign investment drive starting to yield results?

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Reporters gather near a Qatar Airways cargo airplane on the tarmac of Hamad International Airport, as the first commercial flight to Saudi Arabia in three and a half years following a Gulf diplomatic thaw prepares for take-off, Doha, Qatar, Jan. 11, 2021.

Qatar Airways sees annual profit climb by 39% to record $1.67B

The Doha-based airline carried more than 40 million passengers over the 2023/2024 financial year, 26% more than over the previous year.

The Royal Courts of Justice in London, England.

Why are victims of 1990 Kuwait hostage crisis suing British Airways?

On Aug. 2, 1990, upon landing for a planned refueling in Kuwait, the crew and passengers of BA149 were taken hostage by Iraqi forces to be used as human shields against the Western military response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

The sun sets behind high voltage transmission towers (electricity pylons) along a highway in El-Shorouk, a satellite city about 47 kilometers outside the city center of Cairo, on July 24, 2023.

Analysis

Climate change, overreliance on Israeli gas add to Egypt's power crisis

For a year now, load-shedding linked to falling gas production, rising demand and a shortage of foreign currency has led to scheduled two-hour daily power cuts in most parts of the country.

By Jack Dutton , Rosaleen Carroll

Istanbul

In win for Simsek, Turkey removed from FATF money laundering watch list

Turkey was added to the Financial Action Task Force's watch list in 2021 amid concerns of money laundering and terrorism financing.

TOPSHOT - Smoke billows as an Egyptian farmer burns hay stubbles in Qaliubia, some 40 kms north of Cairo, on October 23, 2006. The post-harvest burning suffocates Cairo, one of the most polluted cities in the world. AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Climate crisis stokes growing challenges amid Middle East economic diversification drives

An exchange office worker counts Turkish lira banknotes in Istanbul, June 8, 2015.

Turkey keeps interest rates on hold at 50% even as inflation soars

The Central Bank reiterated its policy to return to monetary tightening in case of a significant deterioration in inflation.

Israeli tractors prepare the ground for a new section of the Israel's security fence on November 12, 2003.

Norway's largest pension fund divests from Caterpillar, accused of Israel links

After the UN dug up dirt on Caterpillar relating to the Gaza war, KLP divested its stake of nearly $70 million in the US industrial company.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) listens to a speech by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (R) during the inauguration of the newly built floating solar power plant on the water that can generate 192 mega watts of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and Masdar from the UAE, at Cirata Reservoir, West Java, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

G42-Microsoft partnership in Kenya 'just the beginning,' says UAE trade minister

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi discusses momentum in UAE trade with the US, the benefits of economic diversification and Africa’s priority in UAE trade policy.

Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi

Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen and Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pictured during a diplomatic meeting on March 17, 2024, in Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt looks set to secure $1.1B EU loan to boost economic recovery

The latest injection is part of a larger two-proposal package from the 27-state bloc to help the North African country's struggling economy.

NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang.

NVIDIA to deploy AI across Middle East amid increasing US-China tech tensions

It was reported in August 2023 that Washington planned to curb exports of some AI microchips from NVIDIA, as well as from Advanced Micro Devices, beyond China to some unspecified Middle Eastern countries.