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People sit in a cafe outside the Apple Store in Dubai on May 8, 2025.

Iran names US tech, finance firms in new Middle East threat list

Firms listed as potential targets included Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, Palantir and Nvidia, while banking giant JPMorgan and UAE-based AI firm G42 were also listed.

Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, "Domino fall", as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said January

Analysis

Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know

Facing a historic internet blackout, Iranians are locked in a struggle with authorities to find loopholes to get around this communications crackdown, leading to "shutdowns within a shutdown."

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

What we know about UAE blocking X accounts accused of misinformation

Attendees take a picture of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as he delivers a speech during a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum on February 10, 2018, on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital, to launch the French-Emirati "Year of Cultural Dialogue". (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

Interview

AI, cybersecurity high on Mideast priorities amid global tech rivalry: Tech Mahindra

A man and woman walk along a promenade overlooking the Burj al-Arab and Dubai skyline on January 4, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Mideast’s AI startups capture record $858M in funding during 2025, doubling share

Detailed image of Middle Eastern developer in front of desktop pc monitoring a complex network, ensuring data security and efficient computing using cloud, AI and machine learning.

United Arab Emirates

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

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

The street in Tahrir Square leading to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (in background) is deserted on the first day of a two-week night-time curfew imposed by the authorities to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2020.

Egyptian students develop luminescent concrete

Four Egyptian students created an innovative glow-in-the-dark concrete that can be used to light up highways and roads, as the world faces a growing energy crisis.

Mask-clad EgyptAir crew check the documents of travelers preparing to board an Airbus A320neo aircraft on the tarmac at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, June 20, 2020.

Egypt uses augmented reality to promote medical tourism

Egypt’s General Authority for Health Care announced the use of metaverse technology to promote its medical tourism project as the country’s tourism sector is trying to compensate for the losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently the Russian war on Ukraine.

This picture taken on Sept. 4, 2018, shows an anchor attached to a coral reef.

Sharm el-Sheikh gets $7 million to become green city for COP27

The Egyptian government, the UN Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility are aiming to transform Sharm el-Sheikh into a green city in the lead-up to the international climate conference in November.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Israeli-American crypto firm Celsius halts trading as price plunge continues

The massive drop in value of Bitcoin, Ethereal and other cryptocurrencies has affected Israel, where many people own some.

Palestinian students interact with a locally made educational robot.

Robots take over Gaza classroom

With the help of a team of local engineers, a school in Gaza City managed to create the first human-like robot for educational purposes using local tools and equipment.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudis grant digital licenses in latest diversification move

The companies provide digital services in cooperation with the Saudi government.

A view of the massive Artemis I Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Pad 39B after rolling out from the Vehicle Assembly Building for a second time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States, June 6, 2022.

Egypt promotes ties with Africa via new satellite

A new Egyptian satellite was recently launched as part of efforts to expand Egypt’s media presence in the African continent.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (back-R) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (back-L).

Russia launches production for Egypt’s nuclear power plant

Ukraine war not stopping Russia’s Rosatom from manufacturing equipment for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.

SULTAN AL-HASANI/AFP via Getty Images

Dubai to build new reservoirs for desalinated water

Like other Gulf states, the UAE is dependent on desalination for its drinking water.

UAE agriculture

Abu Dhabi launches agriculture genome program

Modifying plants’ genetic traits could help with global food supply issues.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli companies offer solutions for global wheat crisis

Israeli agritech companies are finding solutions for the growing global wheat crisis and others.

Moroccan Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Minister Abdellatif Miraoui and Israeli Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen.

Israeli, Moroccan ministers of science and technology sign cooperation agreement

Israel’s Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen and Morocco’s Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Minister Abdellatif Miraoui made history today, concluding a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in a vast field.