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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

Saudi immigrants

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan work on long-term business strategy

Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier Duhail passes through the Suez Canal near the port city of Ismailia, Egypt, April 1, 2008.

Egypt turns to Suez Canal to boost revenues

The waterway’s authority has announced significant increases in transit tolls in recent weeks that are expected to bring in much-needed additional resources to help Cairo navigate its economic challenges.

A worker is seen at an oil refinery near the village of Taq Taq, in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, May 31, 2009.

Report: oil production, profits stable in Iraqi Kurdistan

There have been a series of notable energy developments in Iraq recently.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez.

Turkey-Colombia trade doubles in 2021

Turkey has also sought good relations with Venezuela in South America.

Egyptian machinery work at the construction site of a new housing complex north of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Jan. 11, 2022.

Gaza’s poor, reconstruction projects victims of Russia-Ukraine war

The Russia war on Ukraine took a toll on the Gaza Strip, where the vulnerable population is facing increasing hardships in securing basic necessities as a result of soaring prices, in addition to halting construction projects due to high prices of building materials.

Dubai drivers

Israel-UAE friendship continues with mutual recognition of driving licenses

The agreement has been in the works since shortly after the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

An Uber driver checks his phone application at the company's heardquarters, Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 17, 2018.

Uber faces new competition in Egypt

New ride-sharing competitors are challenging Uber’s longtime monopoly.

Tourists stand at the Mount of Olives

Pandemic no longer Israeli tourism's top problem

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as China maintaining strict COVID-related travel regulations, could present obstacles to a tourism recovery in Israel.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pose for a group photo following their Negev meeting in the kibbutz of Sde Boker, Israel, March 28, 2022.

Israeli business leaders expect surge in trade with Morocco

Morocco hopes to replicate, and even exceed, Israel-UAE business ties.

India wheat

Egypt looks to India as alternative wheat source to Ukraine

Final talks are being held to send Indian wheat to Egypt, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the global supply.

Zero One

Israel’s first digital bank opens for business

Newly authorized by the Bank of Israel, the country’s new digital bank One Zero is taking on several hundred customers each week and 75,000 more people interested in the new platform.

Oman investment

Oman to allow foreign ownership for companies on Muscat stock exchange

The move will help Oman diversify its economy away from dependency on oil. The country has recently sought investment from its neighbors in the Gulf.