United Arab Emirates - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

UAE cover image

United Arab Emirates

April 27, 2026

Abu Dhabi 6:05 pm

36°C

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 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.

Analysis

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

ADNOC, Aramco and QatarEnergy have aggressively expanded their international portfolios in recent years, a strategy facing new constraints as the US-Israel-Iran war impacts Gulf production and exposes structural risks.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

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

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Interview

UAE official says opening Hormuz integral to any Iran deal, describes infrastructure damage 'manageable'

Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, United Arab Emirates

Saudi stocks hit 2026 high, bucking global war-driven volatility

FAYEZ NURELDINE/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

Mohammed Soliman

In Washington, DC, reporting on Gulf politics

DOHA, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: In this handout image provided by Qatar 2022/Supreme Committee, Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022 venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on December 18th, 2020 in Doha, Qatar. Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022™ venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, in front of 50% capacity crowd. The 40,000-capacity venue will host seven matches during Qatar 2022 up to the round-of-16 stage. Fans in attendance were required to show negative COVID-19 test results before entering the venue. (P

Can World Cup soccer help heal Gulf wounds?

Communities torn apart by a yearslong rift between Gulf rulers may need time to heal the wounds of a crisis that damaged social ties that have historically transcended borders.

<<enter caption here>> on October 24, 2011 in Doha, Qatar.

UAE reopens land, sea, air ports to Qatar following Gulf deal

The announcement comes after Gulf leaders this week agreed to end their years-long embargo of Qatar.

Israel, UAE top Middle East vaccination rates

Other countries in the region have only just recently imported vaccines, and the status of vaccination in Iran and Syria in particular is unclear.

Emirati official says Gulf states to work on trade with Qatar before resuming diplomatic ties

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash's comments indicate that healing the Gulf rift may still take more time.

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates

A technician handles collected PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab samples collected as part of COVID-19 coronavirus disease testing, at the Palestinian Gaza-based Health Ministry central laboratory in Gaza City on December 7, 2020. - The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced on December 7 that it will stop testing for the novel coronavirus as it "ran out of examination materials". (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE helps Gaza resume COVID-19 testing as normalization dust settles

The UAE sent a medical aid convoy to the Gaza Strip as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, in the first such shipment since normalizing ties with Israel.

United Arab Emirates

Nurse Practitioner Terri Welch prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, at the Haxby and Wigginton Group Medical Practice in Haxby, northern England on December 22, 2020. - Europe is expected to start a massive vaccination campaign after Christmas following the United States and Britain, which have begun giving jabs with an approved Pfizer-BioNTech shot, one of several leading candidates. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)

Dubai begins administering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Saudi Arabia and Israel have also approved the American-German vaccine.

United Arab Emirates

A Hanukkah menorah is seen as Israeli entrepreneurs celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah for the first time at a hotel in Dubai on December 10, 2020. - Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem after the 165 BC Jewish victory over the Hellenistic Seleucid armies of Antiochus IV Epiphanies, who had outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered Jews to worship Greek gods and adopt their customs. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi returns from Emirates

Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef paid a historic visit this weekend to the United Arab Emirates, inviting several ministers to visit Jerusalem.

United Arab Emirates

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 25: An Emirates A380 prepares for take off at Sydney Airport on March 25, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced further restrictions on Australians as the government works to stop the spread of COVID-19, including a ban on all international travel from Wednesday. There will be exceptions for aid workers and for compassionate, work-related and other essential travel. A new phase of shutdowns for Australian businesses will also come into place from m

Emirates resumes flights to Istanbul

The Dubai-based airline recently reported a massive revenue loss for 2020, but continues to rebuild its flight network toward pre-pandemic status.

United Arab Emirates

A worker inspects bottles of milk on on the producion line at a dairy factory at Baladna farm in the city of al-Khor, 60 kilometers north of the Qatari capital on October 26, 2019. - The cows of Qatar's Baladna farm, housed in climate-controlled farms in the desert, exemplify the lengths to which Qatar has gone to resist what it calls an economic "blockade" enforced by its Saudi-led neighbours. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf economies face major challenges in post-COVID 19 world

Signals indicate the embargo imposed on Qatar could come to an end, but can the Gulf Cooperation Council play a coordinating role vital to diversify Gulf economies post-pandemic?

US treasury secretary to tour Middle East in final push for Abraham Accords

Steven Mnuchin plans to stop in Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Qatar.

United Arab Emirates

An F-35 fighter plane flies over the White House on June 12, 2019, in Washington DC. - US President Donald Trump announced while meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda that Poland was ordering more than 30 F-35 combat aircraft. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate fails to pass resolution blocking Trump administration’s F-35 sale to the UAE

Major obstacle falls to Trump administration's Gulf security goals.

United Arab Emirates