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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

An Egyptian man arranges fruits at a shop in a market in Cairo, on March 17, 2022. Soaring bread prices sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have bitten into the purchasing power of consumers in Egypt, a leading importer of wheat from the former Soviet states.

Middle East reels from historically high food prices

World food prices in March reached their highest levels ever, according to the United Nations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (L) welcomes the United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan upon his arrival for the Negev summit, at Sde Boker in the southern Negev desert, Israel, March 27, 2022.

Free trade agreement opens new horizons for Israel, UAE

The economy and trade ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates concluded last week negotiations on a ground-breaking agreement for a free trade zone, the first of its kind Israel has ever reached with an Arab country.

A member of an Israeli tech delegation uses his phone in a video call during an evening meeting with Emirati counterparts at a hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 25, 2020.

Israel's tech future lies with Arab entrepreneurs

An increasing number of Israeli Arabs are taking the bold step of launching their own startup companies.

Workers stand outside the Dubai International Financial Center in the Gulf emirate on Nov. 29, 2009.

Dubai regulator announces increased protection for whistleblowers

The UAE is working to increase its financial transparency after being linked to sanctions evasion and the flow of dark money.

United Arab Emirates

Israel cannabis

Cannabis sales grow in Israel

The Lod-based company Panaxia reported increased revenues from the Israeli market for its sales of medical cannabis in 2021.

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images

Egyptian economy experiences 'sharp fall' from Ukraine war

According a S&P Global, Egypt’s non-oil sector has taken a subtantial hit, and the government is focusing on wheat imports in particular.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, and Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea.

Egypt, Israel expand economic ties

Cairo and Tel Aviv strengthen trade and economic cooperation and increase their export capacity under the protocol of the Qualified Industrial Zone.

Palestinian man hangs clothing and other items to sell with the hope of getting some income.

Japan to help struggling Palestinian tourism industry

A Japanese nonprofit is also supporting a female-run dairy farm in the Gaza Strip.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Turkey inflation hits 61% as fallout from Ukraine war continues

Consumer inflation has surged to a fresh two-decade high in Turkey as external headwinds spawned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine add to the country’s own economic woes.

An Israeli consultant trades the cryptocurrency bitcoin online, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 17, 2018.

Israel takes global lead in fintech

Effects of the war in Ukraine set aside, the Israeli fintech sector is expected to continue growing this year and attract more global investments.

An Egyptian farmer works in a cotton field in the Nile Delta town of Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 13, 2018.

Egypt cotton exports record high revenues despite Russia-Ukraine war

Despite the Russian war on Ukraine and its negative repercussions on global trade, Egypt succeeded in exporting 50,000 tons, or up to 75%, of its cotton production this season.

Egypt finance

How religious convictions influence business culture in Egypt

Recent fatwas remind Egyptian Muslims that receiving interest on a savings account is permitted, but profiteering from scarce supplies is not.