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Economy & Business

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

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

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

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

Benchmark Brent crude surpassed $120 per barrel on Wednesday, reaching the highest levels yet seen during the US-Israel-Iran war.

An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on Feb. 3, 2012.

Iranian rial hits new record low as blockade, war take toll: What to know

The rial had another collapse in late 2025, triggering massive protests and riots in the country that were ended by a forceful government crackdown.

Latest News

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/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

Tourists stroll at a holy site in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Aug. 14, 2018.

Iran and Iraq sign tourism deal

The agreement follows protests of Iranian “interference” after a drone attack targeted an alleged Israeli spy base in northern Iraq.

Syria wheat farmers

Syrian farmers get much-needed support to confront wheat crisis

Several organizations in northern Syria have launched programs to support farmers amid new concerns over flour and wheat supplies in the war-torn country.

People shop in a street around Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar on May 05, 2022, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey’s growing current account gap exacerbates lira weakness

A widening current account deficit, coupled with $181 billion in short-term external debt liabilities and plunging foreign investments, portend further currency woes for Turkey.

A military vessel of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is pictured off the coast of the southern Lebanese town of Naqura, on the border with Israel, where delegations from the two countries were meeting, Nov. 11, 2020.

Maritime dispute with Lebanon threatens Israeli natural gas drilling

Israel hopes that a solution can be found to the maritime border dispute with Lebanon so Energean can start drilling in the Karish field in the third quarter of 2022.

An Egyptian worker holds a mineral sample from the gold mine at Marsa Alam, in the Red Sea hills, Sept. 14, 2006.

Egypt to invest in gold, mineral mining

Egypt is working to increase the exploration of gold and minerals in the Eastern Desert with the aim of attracting investments in the mining sector.

A farmer harvests wheat with a combine machine, in the countryside of the northwestern city of Afrin in the rebel-held part of Aleppo province, Syria, June 8, 2022.

Syrian opposition bans wheat exports in response to food crisis

The Syrian opposition’s interim government is trying to prevent the smuggling of strategic crops, namely wheat, from its areas of control, amid a global food crisis resulting from the Ukraine war.

SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt looks to India for wheat to make up losses from Ukraine war

A potential deal between Egypt and India to import 500,000 tons of Indian wheat in exchange for Egyptian fertilizers is in the works amid ongoing global wheat shortages.

This photo taken on May 11, 2019, shows a Chinese employee holding a self-developed chip at an industrial park in Jinan in China's eastern Shandong province.

Abu Dhabi to cooperate with Chinese province on industry

China's Shandong province has signed an MOU with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.

Morocco refinery

Calls rise to reactivate Morocco’s only refinery as oil prices soar

Activists and opposition parties are calling for Morocco’s SAMIR oil plant to be brought back online after a seven-year hiatus to alleviate fossil fuel import pressure and enhance energy sovereignty.

A general view of Al-Reesa Seawater Desalination Plant in El-Arish city, in the northern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, March 20, 2022.

Egypt expands water desalination projects as Nile dam talks hit new snag

The Egyptian government is seeking to expand seawater desalination projects in the upcoming period, especially in coastal and border cities, by establishing 14 new plants.

Cyprus' Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides (R) holds a joint press conference with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud.

Saudi Arabia, Cyprus set up joint business council

Cyprus has important relationships with several Middle Eastern states, including Egypt.

A view of the platform of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea is pictured from the northern coastal city of Caesarea, Israel, Dec. 19, 2019.

Egypt's gas imports from Israel hit all-time high

Gas flows hit a new record in the first quarter of the year and peaked in March, when Cairo purchased above contractual volumes.