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June 23, 2026

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French Trade & Invest Commissioner for United Arab Emirates and Middle East and Business France's regional director for the Middle East Axel Baroux. — Business France

Interview

Franco-Gulf investment holds firm despite Iran war, French official says

French investors are reallocating capital toward strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence and technology rather than pulling out of the region altogether.

Axel Baroux

France’s trade and investment commissioner for the UAE and Middle East

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Aramco's VC arm sees boom in emerging technologies, retail

Anas Alqahtani, CEO of Wa'ed Ventures, expects strong growth in Saudi Arabia’s emerging technology and retail sectors over the coming years.

Latest News

Who is Fahd Al-Dosari, Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to Lebanon?

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji meets with Fahd bin Abdulrahman bin Hathloul Al-Dosari, the new Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut on June 17, 2026.

Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air wins US flight approval: What to know

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft of Saudi airline Riyadh Air is pictured on the tarmac at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on June 7, 2026.

Gulf cautiously welcomes US-Iran deal as Hezbollah congratulates Tehran

Veiled women in black Chadors wave Iran and Hezbollah flags during commemoration at the Iranian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 22, 2026.

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

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson conducts flight operations while underway in the Arabian Gulf in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated April 4, 2011. He may have been America's enemy number one, but after U.S. forces killed him in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was afforded Islamic religious rites by the U.S. military as part of his surprise at-sea burial on Monday. The body was transported to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which brought him to his final resting place somewhere in the north

Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump

The Russian president plans to roll out his regional initiative to calm Gulf tensions next month — but are the United States and the EU ready to let Putin step up in the Gulf?

Iran reaffirms support for Houthis as rift splits Saudi coalition

Iran's supreme leader has called on Yemen's Houthi rebels to put up tougher resistance to what he deems a Saudi-Emirati conspiracy to partition the war-ravaged country.

Members of UAE-backed southern Yemeni separatist forces patrol a road during clashes with government forces in Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman - RC14A6592690

Riyadh faces new setback in south Yemen

The loss of Aden is the latest in a long stream of strategic blunders in Yemen by the Saudi leadership.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends an event marking 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shomron Local Council in the Jewish settlement of Revava in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1F9F7652C0

How the Saudis help Netanyahu in his pre-election campaign

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that by boasting about ties with Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he can distance the conflict with the Palestinians from the election agenda.

UAE shifts course in Yemen

By cutting back its forces in Yemen, the UAE seeks to evade the material, humanitarian and moral consequences of the war all the while counting on its local agents to implement the UAE agenda in the country.

Yemen’s farmers brace for slow pomegranate season

Harvest season for pomegranates has kicked off in Saada amid fears of how a Saudi ban on importing the fruit will affect farmers, exporters and markets.

Netanyahu prepares for elections, makes diplomatic push

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that supporting US President Donald Trump’s "deal of the century" by granting Palestinians 715 construction permits could help him ahead of the elections and for the composition of a future government.

Deadly school bus airstrike haunts Yemenis 1 year later

Younis Qatabri was severely injured in the school bus bombing in August 2018 in Yemen, and a year later he remains in pain and cannot walk unaided.

Colony Capital CEO Tom Barrack speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - HT1EC7M04VDBL

Intel: Democrats double down on probe into Trump’s Saudi nuclear dealings

House Democrats on Tuesday shed more light on a years-long lobbying campaign in which Saudi Arabia and the US nuclear industry worked with some of President Donald Trump’s key allies to secure a favorable civil nuclear agreement.

Placards can be seen outside the embassy as people protest against the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London, Britain, October 26 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson - RC1CC0BA7F80

Congress struggles to sanction Saudis for Khashoggi murder

Faced with opposition from the White House and Senate Republican leadership, Congress is struggling to pass Saudi sanctions legislation.

Newly recruited troops of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council are seen on a vehicle during their graduation in Aden, Yemen July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman - RC1A52E65510

UAE faces growing resentment in southern Yemen

The United Arab Emirates is cutting back its forces in Yemen for a variety of reasons, though not exiting entirely, leaving Saudi Arabia to fill in at some strategic sites such as Aden and Perim Island to secure the Bab el-Mandeb Strait’s lucrative shipping lanes.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, questions US Secretary of the Army Mark Esper, nominee to be Secretary of Defense, during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 16, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Intel: Why 5 Democratic presidential hopefuls just rebelled against Trump’s new defense secretary

An overwhelming bipartisan majority of the Senate voted 90-8 Tuesday to confirm former Army Secretary Mark Esper as President Donald Trump’s new defense secretary.