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United Arab Emirates

April 26, 2026

Abu Dhabi 9:48 pm

31°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

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) following their talks in Moscow, Russia March 5, 2020. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS - RC2UDF9BM4UQ

Erdogan's cold war with Saudi Arabia and UAE

Turkey's patience with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is running low, sources tell Al-Monitor.

People shop at a supermarket after the Saudi government eased a curfew and allowed stores to open, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Marwa Rashad - RC2CEG9U1YOY

Saudi Arabia eases anti-virus measures

Saudi Arabia allowed businesses to reopen today, but mosques, schools and other places remain closed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.

A view shows the area outside the Dubai Mall following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23, 2020. Picture taken March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC2AQF9DUMUC

Dubai malls open, but residents reluctant to shop

The government of Dubai has eased some pandemic restrictions for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

United Arab Emirates

A man wearing a protective face mask walks through the deserted Barajeel Souq, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in old Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC25VF9HL1I6

Dubai relaxes its coronavirus lockdown for Ramadan

Dubai will relax its strict coronavirus lockdown to allow movement without permission for much of the day during the Muslim holy month.

United Arab Emirates

An aerial view taken after the recent crowning of Al Wasl dome shows the progress of construction at the Expo 2020 site in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in this undated picture obtained September 19, 2019. Expo 2020/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC18207C2AD0

Dubai Expo 2020 likely to be postponed until October 2021

COVID-19 has put on hold the highly anticipated Dubai Expo 2020; it still is to take place, but most likely not until a year later than planned.

United Arab Emirates

New joint UAE airline venture receives permission to fly amid coronavirus downturn

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, an independent partnership between Air Arabia and Etihad, received its air operating license on April 23.

United Arab Emirates

Intel: Trump calls on Qatar to work toward resolving Gulf dispute

President Donald Trump has asked Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to take steps to resolve the ongoing dispute with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, which blockaded Qatar in 2017.

Repatriation flights take stranded workers home to Pakistan from UAE

The first flight of 20 special flights to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in the United Arab Emirates left Dubai on Saturday.

United Arab Emirates

UAE exempts coronavirus patients, doctors from Ramadan fast

Religious authorities in the United Arab Emirates have said patients suffering from COVID-19 and doctors treating them are exempt from fasting for Ramadan.

United Arab Emirates

For Gulf, South Asia countries, worst is yet to come

The pandemic is expected to be especially hard on migrant workers in the Mideast and South Asia, as it has left many of them unemployed and struggling to return home to an uncertain future.

Intel: Pompeo and Gulf ministers coordinate on Iran, COVID-19

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a flurry of phone calls on Thursday with his counterparts in Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to discuss Iran and the COVID-19 pandemic.

United Arab Emirates