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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

Two bank employees count dollars and Iraqi dinars in Baghdad on Sept. 28, 2000.

Why Iraq's dinar is trading below official dollar rate amid new restrictions

A top US official visited Iraqi officials last week to discuss countering illicit finance and strengthening Iraq’s financial system.

Milkor 380 drone.

South Africa’s Milkor gets go-ahead to produce drones in Saudi Arabia

The Gulf country is bolstering its defense capabilities amid increasing instability in the Middle East.

A THOR vertical takeoff and landing micro-unmanned aerial system, developed as military tactical mule platform and part of the "Legion-X" line of robotic and autonomous combat solutions produced by Elbit Systems, flies during a press demonstration at their headquarters in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, July 10, 2023.

Japan’s Itochu drops Israel’s Elbit defense systems as Gaza war impact deepens

Companies with connections to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems have been targeted by activist groups including Palestine Action, which is calling for those involved in the company’s supply chains to sever ties.

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)

Red Sea attacks push global firms to seek overland shipping alternatives

An Israeli company is sending goods overland from the United Arab Emirates through Saudi Arabia and other firms are looking at different arrangements as US strikes fail to deter Houthi attacks.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Will Egypt succeed in upping its multimillion-dollar IMF bailout?

North Africa's largest economy is working to increase its $3 billion IMF program to $10 billion as it faces its worst financial downturn in decades.

Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, talks to the press as he arrives for the second and last day of a European Union summit, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on Oct. 27, 2023.

Ireland seeking review of EU-Israel trade deal

Ireland-Israel relations have plummeted since the start of the Gaza war amid significant pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli sentiment in the country.

Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

Saudi Arabia’s soccer spending spree slows

Saudi Arabia's splashy spending on big-name foreign players has slowed considerably as Saudi Pro League attendance sags and rumors are swirling that top stars want out of the kingdom.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hand with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

India's government ratifies UAE investment deal as trade booms

The UAE and India have substantial and growing economic ties and Abu Dhabi is seeking to invest more in the South Asian country.

A picture taken on Nov. 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iran begins building 4 more nuclear power plants amid IAEA warnings

Western officials have long suspected Tehran of looking to produce nuclear weapons, though Iran denies this.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie holds a press conference about the grounding of the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given cargo ship in the waterway, Suez, March 27, 2021.

Analysis

Egypt sees sharp decline in Suez Canal trade volume amid Red Sea turmoil

Data for 2024 up to Jan. 29 show 140.55 million metric tons of trade transiting the key chokehold compared with 145.25 million metric tons the same time last year.

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

A man watches stock movements on a display at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in the Gulf emirate on April 12, 2022. Shares in the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) rose 16 percent on April 12 in the Gulf region's biggest initial public offering since Saudi oil giant Aramco in 2019. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Middle East economic outlook dims amid turbulent start to 2024

A Starbucks store stands in Manhattan on January 30, 2024 in New York City. The global coffee chain officially introduced its extra virgin olive oil-infused drinks on Tuesday. Named Oleato, the drinks debuted in Italy in February 2023 and arrive in stores on the same day Starbucks will report fourth-quarter earnings. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Starbucks feels Gaza boycott heat, cuts sales forecast as BDS targets Chevron

The two companies are being targeted by campaigners over perceived support for sides in the Israel-Hamas war.