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Economy & Business

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Analysis

How Russia stands to win, lose as Iran war squeezes Gulf oil exports

As crude prices surpassed $100 per barrel with the Strait of Hormuz shut, Russia is reaping benefits amid new US sanctions flexibility — but experts say Moscow faces challenges capitalizing on this new market opening.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Saudis shop for fresh products at a market in Riyadh on Feb. 18, 2026, on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.

Analysis

Alternative supply routes emerge as Iran war tests Gulf food security

Roughly 61 million people in the Gulf rely on established food supply chains, many of which have been upended since the United States and Israel launched their attack against Iran on Feb. 28.

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

Young wheat shoots emerge from moist soil in farmland near Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan region, Dec. 19, 2025.

Iran war hits fertilizer supplies as Fitch warns prices could rise some 25%

Higher prices and availability, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, are raising food security concerns globally as well as in the Middle East.

Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Oil jumps above $100 as energy crisis called worst in history: What to know

The latest spike is the second time in a week that oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel.

Latest News

Group of 32 states to release 400M barrels of oil reserves: What to know

Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

Oil-price hikes from Iran war threaten Turkey's rate cuts in inflation fight

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Airlines gradually restore Middle East flights, Gulf still heavily grounded

An Emirates Airbus A380 passenger aircraft prepares for landing at Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 8, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Oil swings steady as Aramco warns of 'catastrophic' Hormuz disruption

Dan Kitwood/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

TOPSHOT - Saudi elite aerobatic flying team of the Royal Saudi Air Force Saudi Hawks performs during the aviation event 11th Athens Flying Week over Tanagra air base in Schimatari, north of Athens, on September 3, 2023. (Photo by Theophile Bloudanis / AFP) (Photo by THEOPHILE BLOUDANIS/AFP via Getty Images)

What’s behind flurry of Saudi helicopter deals with Airbus, Leonardo?

The Saudi sovereign fund’s helicopter firm inked several agreements during a helicopter expo in this week, choosing to partner with Airbus amid concerns about Boeing.

Offshore oil rig in the gulf.

South Sudan’s oil at risk due to Sudan civil war

South Sudan depends on its northern neighbor to export its oil and is facing difficulties with the exports due to the war there and the conflict in the Red Sea.

The Mukaab structure as envisioned by Saudi Public Investment Fund. - Saudi Public Investment Fund

Saudi PIF-owned company, tourism fund partner on new downtown for Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is working with the kingdom’s Tourism Development Fund to create "the world’s largest downtown" in the capital.

ISMAILIA, EGYPT - JANUARY 10: A ship transits the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea on January 10, 2024 in Ismailia, Egypt. In the wake of Israel's war on Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Houthi rebels in Yemen pledged disruption on all ships destined for Israel through the Red Sea's Suez Canal. The disruption on world trade is evident in the number of companies using this container ship route - a 90 per cent decline compared to figures one year ago. (Photo by Sayed Hassan/Getty Images)

Middle East economic powers gamble on new realities, from oil demand to Egypt’s future

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and his wife Brigitte Macron (R) greet Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (C) during an official visit to the Elysee Palace, in Paris on February 27, 2024. Macron and the Emir of Qatar take stock of current efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, as well as ways of speeding up the implementation of a Palestinian state in order to bring a lasting end to the conflict. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty

Qatar to pump nearly $11B into French start-ups, funds until 2030

The new investments will target key areas, including the aerospace, energy, semiconductor, artificial intelligence, digital, health, hospitality and cultural sectors.

Muscat

Oman jumps 39 places on 2024 Economic Freedom Index, UAE ranks 22

Oman's economic reforms are paying dividends, according to the latest Heritage Foundation index on economic freedom.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Feb. 08, 2024.

Yellen urges Israel to ease West Bank’s economic woes

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for Israel to reduce barriers to commerce in the West Bank and reinstate work permits for Palestinians that were revoked after Oct. 7.

Employees of Aramco oil company work in Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil processing plant on September 20, 2019. - Saudi Arabia said on September 17 its oil output will return to normal by the end of September, seeking to soothe rattled energy markets after attacks on two instillations that slashed its production by half. The strikes on Abqaiq - the world's largest oil processing facility - and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia roiled energy markets and revived fears of a conflict in the tinderbox Gulf

Saudi Aramco’s oil production pivot signals Riyadh’s embrace of fungible fiscal policy

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

A trader prepares before the opening of the stock market at the stock exchange in Doha, Qatar, July 31, 2017.

Qatar’s first VC fund of $1B expected to 'fuel startup ecosystem in region'

The program has two objectives: to generate market-level commercial returns for Qataris and to develop a “vibrant VC and startup ecosystem” in line with the country's national development strategy.

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar places major bet on gas as Saudi Aramco scores new find in Jafurah

Asian liquefied natural gas prices have fallen to a nearly three-year low as warmer winter temperatures have dampened demand.

The picture illustrates euro and United States 100-dollar banknotes bearing the portrait of US statesman, inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin next to Iran's rial banknotes, bearing a portrait of Iran's late founder of Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on September 30, 2012. Iran's currency, the rial, dived to a new low of around 29,600 to the dollar in open trading, losing over 60 percent of its value since the end of last year according to exchange tracking websites as draconian We

Will the value of the Iranian Rial collapse?

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

A Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle is displayed at the Singapore Airshow in Singapore on Feb. 21, 2024.

Israel’s military exports to India booming, 'unaffected' by war in Gaza

Israel has been one of the top military exporters to India over the past decade.