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June 8, 2026

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Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula, on May 17, 2026.

Analysis

Turkey pushes Iraq, Syria trade routes as Hormuz crisis disrupts Gulf shipping

Turkey is using the Hormuz crisis to promote Iraq- and Syria-based Gulf-Europe corridors, but experts say the routes remain too costly, underbuilt and politically fragile to rival maritime shipping.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

Analysis

As Gulf crisis reshapes energy markets, experts warn of new normal

Philippe LOPEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Ports and infrastructure: UAE embraces new economic order in Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to attend the second day of the first Syrian-Emirati (United Arab Emirates) Investment Forum, at the People's Palace in Damascus on May 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Reve Chaaban

In Doha reporting on culture

Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar's National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, speaks during a press conference in Gaza City on January 25, 2019. - Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas said on January 25 they would not accept a fresh tranche of Qatari funds, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. The rejection of the expected $15 million (13.2 million euros) raised fears of fresh tensions along the Gaza-Israel border, ahead of weekly Friday p

Will Qatar renew Gaza aid?

There are concerns the Qatari aid to the Gazans will stop as tension escalates on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Qatar's Minister of State for energy affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi attends the 175th OPEC Conference of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria on December 6, 2018. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Qatari investments continued in Egypt despite political tensions

The Qatari Diar Company managed to open the St. Regis Hotel on the banks of the Nile River in Cairo, but the future of Qatari investments in the Egyptian market seems to be marred by tensions between the two countries.

Intel: Pompeo thanks Qatar for facilitating Afghanistan peace talks

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thanked Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for agreeing to host peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Saudi Arabia permanently cancels license of Qatar's beIN Sports

The popular Doha-based sports network had been officially blocked in Saudi Arabia since the 2017 diplomatic row between the two Gulf countries.

This picture taken on September 27, 2019 shows an Airbus A350 of Qatar Airways company after taking off from the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, near Toulouse. (Photo by PASCAL PAVANI / AFP) (Photo by PASCAL PAVANI/AFP via Getty Images)

UN high court sides with Qatar in aviation dispute

The aviation row centers on a years-long air boycott imposed by Qatar's regional rivals.

Men, wearing protective masks, walk on a plastic pier at Katara beach in the Qatari capital Doha on July 1, 2020 as the country moves into the second phase of its four-step plan to lift COVID-19 lockdown. - People in Qatar cautiously returned to beaches as the Gulf nation, which has one of the world's highest total per capita coronavirus infection rates, continued to reopen society.
Sun-lovers and jetski enthusiasts braved temperatures of 39 degrees celsius (102 Fahrenheit) at Doha's Katara Cultural Village

Qatar coronavirus cases top 100,000 as restrictions ease

The Gulf state announced 546 new cases and five more deaths from the virus on Monday.

TOPSHOT - A trader walks by beneath a stock display board at the Dubai Stock Exchange in the United Arab Emirates, on March 8, 2020. - Saudi's stock exchange fell 6.5 percent and other Gulf markets tumbled to multi-year lows at the start of trading after OPEC and its allies failed to clinch a deal over oil production cuts. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020

The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Israel OK's transfer of Qatari financial aid to Gaza

Israel approved the transfer of $50 million to the Gaza Strip, apparently in exchange for Hamas keeping calm and refraining from resuming incendiary balloon terrorism.

An ATM is seen outside the building of Qatar National Bank in Doha, Qatar January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer - RC15CADB0E00

Qatar National Bank hit with lawsuit over Americans killed by Hamas in Israel

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in New York by dozens of relatives of 10 Americans killed or wounded by Hamas attacks in Israel and the West Bank.

Workers are seen at the Al Janoub Stadium built for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer championship during a stadium tour in Al Wakrah, Qatar, December 16, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern - RC2EWD9VPND9

COVID-19 crisis returns spotlight to Gulf migrant communities

Contract migration schemes make citizenship acquisition nearly impossible for migrant workers in the Gulf, and recent economic and health crises make any imminent changes further unlikely.

A man looks as the world's biggest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker DUHAIL as she crosses through the Suez Canal April 1, 2008. The Qatari tanker, which was built to transfer LNG from Qatar to Europe and the U.S., is on her first trip ever from Qatar to Spain. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT) - GM1E44200C701

Qatar makes massive LNG ship order

The purchase by Qatar Petroleum from three South Korean companies comes as oil prices continue to rise from the lows earlier in the year.

A merchant counts Turkish lira banknotes at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1DD8429180

Qatar triples swap line with Turkey

Qatar has offered support to Turkey’s central bank, expanding a currency-swap agreement to $15 billion as Ankara seeks to mitigate economic shocks from the coronavirus pandemic.