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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.

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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

ranian President Ebrahim Raisi (L) and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (R).

Iran, Algeria to build closer energy, tourism ties

Europe is increasingly interested in Algeria as an alternative to Russia for gas supplies, while Iran is seeking to boost its own gas output amid continued US sanctions.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey's annual inflation surges to 15-month high of 67%

With Turkey's annual inflation at 67%, a 15-month high, analysts argue that the Central Bank will need to resume monetary tightening.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

UK-Saudi deal allows kingdom to tap into Britain’s $1T tech market

The kingdom spent $5.1 billion on research and development in 2022, a 32.7% from the previous year’s $3.9 billion.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

New Egyptian company to raise expat funds gets $100m seed investment

The project is designed to bring in much-needed foreign currency into the North African country, which is going through its worst economic crisis in more than half a century.

A picture taken during an organised tour by Yemen's Huthi rebels on November 22, 2023 shows the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, seized by Huthi fighters two days earlier, at a port on the Red Sea in Yemen's province of Hodeida. The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader, operated by a Japanese firm but having links to an Israeli businessman, was headed from Turkey to India when it was seized and re-routed to Hodeida November 19, according to maritime security company Ambrey. The Huthis said the capture was

How Red Sea attacks could rewire Middle East trade and economic cooperation

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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.