Iran protests

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Explainer

How Iran war created unexpected economic beneficiaries

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is reshaping global energy and trade flows, creating opportunities for economies far beyond the Middle East.

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes on June 23, 2025.

UAE eyes first multifuel pipeline as Hormuz crisis drags on

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is considering building a refined oil products pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.

United Arab Emirates

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Container rates climb as logistic firms scale up Hormuz alternatives

The Drewry World Container Index measuring container shipping prices has soared by more than 40% since the start of the US-Israel-Iran war.

United Arab Emirates

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during an election campaign rally ahead of the presidential vote in Tehran on June 15, 2024.

Explainer

From China to Qatar: Where Iran’s frozen assets are held

Tehran is reportedly demanding some $24 billion in frozen funds be unblocked as part of a peace deal with the United States.

Latest News

Iran partially restores internet after 88-day blackout: What to know

An Iranian woman walks past a mobile phone shop at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Uptick in Chinese tankers transiting Hormuz amid Trump-Xi summit

Jag Vasant, an Indian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that transited through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, remains docked at an offloading terminal along the coast in Mumbai on April 1, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Why Iran’s regime didn't break: The hidden networks behind its survival

Mahmoud Karimi, a maddah, leads a mourning ritual during the Muslim month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Tehran on July 3, 2025.

Jamshid Jamshidi

By Jamshid Jamshidi

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi speaks at a candidates' registration office in Tehran on May 30, 2024, during the first day of registration ahead of the country's presidential election.

Who is Ahmad Vahidi, IRGC chief and hard-liner against nuclear compromise?

A longtime Revolutionary Guard insider with strong ties to Iran’s security apparatus and proxy network, Ahmad Vahidi has taken over the IRGC at a moment of crisis, with some reports suggesting he is playing an outsized role in the country’s decision-making.

Mahdi Farid, who was convicted of espionage for Israel’s Mossad, was executed after his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, Tehran, Iran, April 22, 2026.

Iran executes 14th person since war over alleged Mossad ties: What to know

Iran has carried out multiple executions since the outbreak of the war with the United States and Israel, as it intensifies a crackdown on individuals accused of spying for Israel.

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

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

The Gulf country apparently wanted reassurances from Washington in case its economy is severely damaged by the Iran war.

United Arab Emirates

A man walks past a screen displaying stock indices at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in Dubai, March 4, 2026.

Oil rises, Gulf stocks slide after Iran ship seizure throws truce into doubt

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the US Navy fired at and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.

MUSCAT, OMAN - MARCH 25: Locals take photos of two bulk carriers anchored at Muscat Anchorage on March 25, 2026 in Muscat, Oman. Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which conveys about 20% of the world's oil and gas, has mostly come to a halt after the joint U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that began on February 28. Iran, in a defiant reply to a ceasefire proposal from the United States, has claimed that sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz "is its natural and legal right." Under international law, t

Iran says Strait of Hormuz 'completely open' to ships

Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday that commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will remain secure for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon truce.

A fuel truck CarbOil services an Easyjet aircraft at Milan's Malpensa Airport on April 13, 2026.

Eurozone's inflation jumps 2.6%, jet fuel shortages loom amid Iran war

Inflation has been soaring globally amid an energy supply crunch caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranians carry the coffin of one of the people killed in a shooting attack, during their funeral in the city of Izeh in Iran's Khuzestan province, on November 18, 2022. In some of the worst violence since the protests erupted, assailants on motorbikes shot dead seven people, including a woman and two children aged nine and 13, at a central market of Izeh on the evening of November 16, 2022, state media said. (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / isna / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI/isna/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran arrests Ahwazi separatist leader amid war crackdown: What to know

The Islamic Republic has detained hundreds of people in Khuzestan province, home to Iran’s largest Arab community.

People gather under a large portrait of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during a memorial to mark the 40th day since his father, Ali Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli joint strikes, on April 9, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Ceasefire without relief: How Iranians are grappling with post-war repression

Despite the ceasefire, pressure is mounting inside Iran: arrests are rising, the internet remains largely shut down, and millions face deep economic uncertainty.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Exhaust emits from the engine of a passenger jet as it prepares for take off at Heathrow Airport on March 30, 2006, in London, England.

Jet fuel squeeze exposes Europe’s reliance on Middle East supply

Lawmakers on the continent have been told to make "timely preparations in anticipation of a potentially prolonged disruption" in energy flows from the region.

This photograph shows the Malta-flagged container ship CMA CGM "pollon Valletta and the Panamean-flagged Wood Chips carrier Green Sapphire in the sea in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, on March 25, 2026.

No ships transit Hormuz as Iran plans safe-passage tolls: What to know

An Iranian lawmaker told Fars News Agency that Tehran plans to charge ships tolls to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, formalizing the country’s control over the strategic waterway.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (C) waves as he returns to his car after visiting the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, on October 12, 2024. At least 22 people were killed in Israeli strikes on a densely populated area of central Beirut on October 10, the Lebanese health ministry said, with a security source saying a Hezbollah figure was the target. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Meet Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, IRGC-vetted figure at center of US talks

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has emerged as one of the Islamic Republic’s most visible figures amid the conflict.

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