United Arab Emirates - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

UAE cover image

United Arab Emirates

April 15, 2026

Abu Dhabi 7:15 pm

24°C

A man walks through the atrium during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

IMF slashes Mideast outlook by nearly 3 points as Iran war hits economies

The International Monetary Fund cut gross domestic product forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa, with the fallout from the conflict exposing stark divergences between the region’s energy exporters and importers.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in Beijing on April 13, 2026.

China signals bigger Gulf role as UAE crown prince visits Beijing

China, which maintains close ties with both Iran and Gulf states, is hosting one of the UAE's top officials this week as a fragile ceasefire in the region holds.

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

Oil back above $100 as US moves to blockade Strait of Hormuz

Soaring energy prices can be expected to remain volatile while the US begins its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

TOPSHOT - People watch from a street as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. Iran's strikes on Gulf neighbours since February 28, following the US-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travellers who thought they were headed to one of the region's safest holiday destinations. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE says no more 'niceties' with Iran, seeks clarity on fragile truce terms

The UAE said Iran must pay “compensation” for damages incurred during the conflict.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Iran hits Gulf, threatens truce as Israel escalates in Lebanon: What to know

Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire following an Israeli strike at the Corniche al-Mazraa neighbourhood of Beirut on April 8, 2026.

Gulf nations in line of fire brace for Iran escalation: What to know

The Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper (R) is pictured as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport on March 16, 2026. Flights were gradually resuming at Dubai airport on March 16, previously the world's busiest for international flights, the airport operator said, after a "drone-related incident" sparked a fuel tank fire nearby, as Iran kept up its Gulf attacks. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /

United Arab Emirates

AirAsia stays course on Bahrain hub as Iran war clouds aviation growth plans

AirAsia aircraft with two engines landing on Kota Kinabalu International airport runway, Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia, March 4, 2017.

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

UAE tech

Abu Dhabi Global Market adopts blockchain for courts

The move comes amid other financial changes in the Gulf state. Blockchain technology is also used for cryptocurrency.

Saudi passengers take the train on an internal trip in Riyadh's only railway station 19 September 2004. Only four passenger trains per day operate from the six-platform station and along the sole operating track in the vast desert kingdom. The trains carried around 900,000 passengers in 2003 between the capital -- home to some four million -- and the center of the oil-rich Eastern Province. The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) believes that the existing service has improved immensely during the past three

Rail development to grow across GCC, with Saudi Arabia & UAE leading the charge

Afshin Molavi

Hydrogen

UAE’s Masdar thinks Africa poised to be hydrogen hub

The African continent has a lot of potential to produce hydrogen as an energy source, but there are also many challenges, according to some observers.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C), Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd R) and UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (R) attend the leaders summit on the second day of the COP27 climate conference, Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 7, 2022.

UAE, Egypt announce new wind farm during COP27

Wind power is growing in Egypt, which is relatively poor in oil and gas.

Participants attend the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, Emirates, Nov. 11, 2019.

US, UAE sign clean energy partnership

The agreement unlocks $100 billion in financing.

(From L to R) Moderator Joha Simpson, BBC world affairs editor broadcaster, author and columnist, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei, Omani Oil and Gas Minister Mohamed Al Rumhi and Bahrain's Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa sit on a panel during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference), Abu Dhabi, Emirates, Nov. 7, 2016.

UAE warns against underinvestment in oil, gas at Abu Dhabi conference

The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference also features more focus on decarbonization and hydrogen.

A man looks at cryptocurrency prices in a window of a cryptocurrency exchange office, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 19, 2021.

Report: Turkey has highest cryptocurrency interest in Middle East

CryptoManiaks also found a relatively high amount of crypto-related Google searches in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

A sign offering Bitcoin for sale is seen in a store window in Hollywood, California, Oct. 20, 2022

Dubai-based crypto firm to offer payment card

The partnership between BitOasis and Mastercard could make cryptocurrencies more usable for daily purchases.

Jan. 27, 2018

Animal-free dairy plant to open in UAE

The United Arab Emirates is getting its first vegan dairy production facility as demand for non-animal-based products rises in the Gulf.

United Arab Emirates

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Next British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's views on Middle East

The Conservative statesman has expressed fairly mainstream views on Israel, Iran and other regional issues.

A picture taken on March 12, 2019, at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes shows a scale model of the city of Dubai.

Russian, British citizens top buyers of nonresidential property in Dubai

The war in Ukraine is driving more Russians to buy property in Dubai’s flourishing real estate market.

United Arab Emirates

A Japanese and an Emirati man in traditional clothes check their phones at the Arabian Travel Market.

UAE and Japan agree to visa-free travel

The two countries also recently pledged to boost economic, industrial and energy cooperation.

United Arab Emirates