Economy and trade

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tarik pose during a meeting with business leaders in Paris on June 29, 2026.

Oman's sultan meets Macron in first France visit since 1989: What to know

French President Emmanuel Macron has been pushing against any form of toll for the Strait of Hormuz.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

Around 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is 35 years old or younger, according to the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, providing ample opportunity for an educated and technology-savvy national workforce in the coming decades.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

A tourist boat passes near crude oil tankers, bulk carriers, and other vessels anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, June 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

The US-Israel-Iran war produced a historic oil supply shock but not a severe global economic crisis, due to ample prewar supplies, China's energy pivot and strategic reserve releases.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Oil falls below $74 as Hormuz traffic recovers after Iran war

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

Explainer

Lebanon advances controversial $500K golden visa law: What to know

A picture shows the four seasons hotel in Beirut with the snow covered mountain of Sannine in the background on March 8, 2019.

Explainer

Qatar blast underscores challenges in race to restart Gulf energy flows

Qatar's Energy Minister and CEO of QatarEnergy Saad Sherida al-Kaabi speaks during a press conference in Doha on June 22, 2026.

Interview

US-Egypt fund makes case for economic statecraft in hard power era

A worker counts banknotes after filling up the tank of a vehicle at a petrol station in Giza on March 10, 2026.

Cornelius Queen

Cornelius Queen

Senior Vice President of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund

LED ground level lights installed to warn texting pedestrians before crossing the road are seen in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel, March 12, 2019.

Israel, Emirates establish joint R&D, tech investment fund

With the export of Israeli high tech surpassing the export of goods, the government invests in a joint fund with the Emirates for technologies and start-ups, and also supports investment funds for developing countries.

Lebanon's Energy Minister Walid Fayad (C) during the signing of a deal that will supply Lebanon with electricity, in Beirut on Jan. 26, 2022.

Lebanon signs new electricity deal with Jordan, Syria

A previously announced agreement to export Egyptian gas to Lebanon has yet to come to fruition.

A picture taken May 9, 2019, from northern port of Le Havre, shows a Saudi cargo ship next to a British crude oil tanker in the port of Le Havre.

Saudi Arabia reports more non-oil exports, large amount of trade with China

The kingdom is trying to reduce its dependence on oil.

Lebanon's former Prime Minister Saad Hariri gestures to the crowd after a press conference in the capital, Beirut, on Jan. 24, 2022.

Lebanon's ex-Premier Hariri quits politics

A Palestinian farmer walks past greenhouses as the strawberry harvest begins in the northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 10, 2013.

Palestinian economic activity with Israel increases

Relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority warmed last year.

A man sorts through discarded electric devices at a scrap workshop in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on June 3, 2020.

Economic meltdown drives some Lebanese to collect recyclables for a living

Lebanon’s increasing poverty and lack of jobs drive desperate people to live off of selling collected recycled materials in kilos to scrapyards, shops and manufacturers.

The US Department of Treasury building is seen in Washington, DC, early on Jan. 12, 2022.

US Treasury sanctions Hezbollah financial network in Lebanon

A US Treasury official says the department is targeting Hezbollah's "misuse of the international financial system" to raise funds for terrorism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) during their meeting in Moscow on Jan. 19, 2022.

Putin, Raisi look to boost trade, regional cooperation in Moscow talks

Ebrahim Raisi's trip to Moscow is unlikely to further elevate relations between the two countries.

Russian soldiers stand aboard a ship at the Russian naval base in the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartus on Sept. 26, 2019.

Crimean, Syrian ports sign cooperation agreements

A Syrian government delegation visited the Russian-backed breakaway republic this week.

A Hezbollah flag flies in the foreground as a member of the Spanish contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stands in a lookout tower on Oct. 2, 2008 near the southern Lebanese village of Abbassiyeh near to the disputed Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area.

US sanctions Hezbollah's alleged financial facilitators in Lebanon

The US Treasury Department designated Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun and Jihad Salem Alame as well as their travel company.

Lebanese wait to fill their gas cylinders in the southern city of Sidon amidst a deepening economic crisis, on Aug. 10, 2021.

US alleviates Lebanon's sanctions concerns over energy deal

US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea provided a Treasury Department letter that addressed concerns over the energy plan's potential to violate sanctions on Syria.

Buses block a road leading to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport during a strike by public transport and workers unions over the economic crisis, on Jan. 13, 2022.

Lebanese minister seeks economic boost with Iraq visit

George Boushekian visited Baghdad this week to seek cooperation with his Iraqi counterparts and facilitate business deals between Iraqi and Lebanese entities amid Lebanon's economic crisis.