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Economy & Business

A view of Dubai Marina in Dubai on March 3, 2026.

UAE’s cash request tests US ties as Iran war strains Gulf financial muscle

Amid growing economic fallout from the regional war, Abu Dhabi’s bombshell request for a war-time financial lifeline from the United States is less about cash and more about clout — for now.

United Arab Emirates

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a LNG berth in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, prefecture April 8, 2026.

IEA delivers grim gas supply forecast as oil notches 15% weekly rise

A wave of new LNG supplies will be delayed for at least two years due to war-related damage to Qatari energy infrastructure, according the International Energy Agency's latest market update.

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

The deal, announced as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding last September, would have seen the PIF inject up to $200 million into the opera institution over the next eight years.

Refueling trucks are seen at Southend Airport on April 17, 2026, in Southend, England.

Which airlines are cutting flights amid Hormuz fuel disruption?

European and Asian airlines have been most impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is throttling jet fuel supplies.

Latest News

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Gulf energy deals face Iran war stress test as global expansion meets oil shock

A picture shows the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administrated by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital Doha, on Feb. 6, 2017.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Could UAE tap US currency swap line as Iran war strains Gulf economies?

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

EU to restore Syria cooperation pact ahead of May talks: What to know

Tobias SCHWARZ / 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

YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Invest Qatar sees big role for logistics sector, World Cup spurred investments

The Gulf country ranks seventh globally in logistics competence in Agility's Emerging Markets Logistics Index as the Qatar Free Zones Authority brings in top companies in the sector.

Haitham al-Ghais, secretary general of OPEC, speaks with Carlos Pascual during CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, Texas on March 7, 2023.

OPEC chief defends oil cut phase-out plans despite bearish market

The markets reacted bearishly OPEC+'s Sunday output decision, worrying it could lead to oversupply later in 2024 despite slow demand growth.

United Arab Emirates

Omani energy minister

Interview

Oman to phase out polluting industries 'too difficult to decarbonize'

Omani Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim Al Aufi told Al-Monitor that if his government finds an industry too difficult or costly to decarbonize, there will be discussions taking place about phasing the sector out all together.

Salim Al Aufi

Salim Al Aufi

Oman Minister of Energy and Minerals

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar National Bank says GCC banks have more liquidity than global rivals

An executive at the Qatari lender said that Gulf countries will have to compete with the rest of the world for billions of dollars in equity to finance infrastructure projects, of which there is a higher demand than supply.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attends the Moldova support conference at the Foreign Ministry, Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2022.

Le Drian says France keen to help Saudi Arabia transition away from oil

France's former top diplomat said that his country was supportive of Saudi Arabia's efforts to diversify its economy.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt’s foreign reserves hit record $46B on back of UAE, IMF deals

Egypt’s foreign reserves have been boosted by a recent Emirati investment in the Ras El-Hekma coastal area, though the economy is still struggling with inflation.

AYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia sees 477% increase in multinational HQs in first quarter

The 127 international companies relocating to Saudi Arabia so far this year follow a Saudi program to attract world businesses.

A teller counts US dollar bills at an exchange office in Ankara, Turkey, July 20, 2023.

Turkey’s inflation tops 75% but economy czar says 'worst is over'

Finance and Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek has said that inflation will begin dropping from June.

CORRECTION / An Iranian man reads a prayer over the coffins of late president Ebrahim Raisi (portrait top L) and late governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati (portrait top R) during a funeral ceremony at the Imam Reza shrine, in the city of Mashhad, on May 23, 2024. Raisi and seven members of his entourage, including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were killed in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountainside in Iran on May 19. (Photo by Sadegh NIKGOSTAR / FARS NEWS AGENCY /

Leadership turnover fuels new uncertainty as Mideast economies navigate Gaza fallout

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

US reportedly slows AI chip exports to Mideast as Saudi Arabia turns to China

Washington has further restricted imports of critical components for AI systems to certain countries, including some undisclosed ones in the Middle East.

People visit the Global Village, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex in Dubai, on the eve of Eid al-Fitr which ends the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, on April 20, 2023. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Middle East economic outlook caught between low growth, high debt convergence

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images

UAE main destination for smuggled African gold, report claims

Swissaid estimates that 405 metric tons of gold, mostly mined by small-scale or artisanal miners, were smuggled out of Africa in 2022 and ended up in the UAE.

United Arab Emirates