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

UAE cover image

United Arab Emirates

April 20, 2026

Abu Dhabi 3:25 pm

28°C

Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, United Arab Emirates

Interview

UAE official says opening Hormuz integral to any Iran deal, describes infrastructure damage 'manageable'

Abdulla Balalaa, UAE assistant minister of foreign affairs for energy and sustainability, spoke to Al-Monitor about the situation in the Gulf along with the UAE's focus on promoting privatization in the water sector and the 2026 UN Water Conference.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi stocks hit 2026 high, bucking global war-driven volatility

The kingdom's stock market climbed to its highest level of the year on Wednesday, with the kingdom’s equities now far outperforming the S&P 500 and other global and regional indices.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

UAE's deputy PM holds first call with Ghalibaf amid push to extend US-Iran ceasefire

The Emirati vice president and Iran’s parliament speaker talked de-escalation on the phone in the first such contact since the Iran war began.

United Arab Emirates

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.

Latest News

China signals bigger Gulf role as UAE crown prince visits Beijing

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.

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

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

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

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)

United Arab Emirates

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

Israel reopens liaison office in Morocco

The mission's reopening comes a month after Israel and Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic and economic ties.

United Arab Emirates

UAE confirms F-35 agreement inked with Trump administration

The weapons package, which includes dozens of the stealth fighter jets, drones and other munitions, is valued at $23 billion.

United Arab Emirates

An Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 "Dreamliner" aircraft carrying a delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a first official visit, lands at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on October 20, 2020. - The UAE delegation left on the country's first official visit to Israel with a string of deals set to be signed after the two countries signed a deal to normalise ties last month. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Etihad to resume flights to Doha as Gulf crisis ends

Following the United Arab Emirates reopening its airspace to Qatar, the Abu Dhabi-based airline will restart flights to the Qatari capital next month.

United Arab Emirates

An Emirati man gets vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus at al-Barsha Health Centre in the Gulf Emirate of Dubai on December 24, 2020. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Dubai suspends nonessential surgery as COVID-19 cases soar

The emirate is also pausing live entertainment at hotels and restaurants until further notice.

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates signs deal to buy F-35s, drones just before Biden sworn in

President Joe Biden has suggested his administration might review or impose conditions on arms sales, but it is not yet clear he will oppose the deal.

United Arab Emirates

A general view shows Egypt's High Dam in Aswan, some 920 kilometres south of the capital Cairo, on January 3, 2021. - Half a century since Egypt's Aswan dam was inaugurated to much fanfare, harnessing the Nile for hydropower and irrigation, the giant barrier is still criticised its human and environmental toll. But it is also a stark reminder -- amid high tensions today as Addis Ababa fills its collosal Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) upstream, Africa's largest -- of just how volatile politics over t

UAE steps in to ease Nile dam crisis

Sudanese reports recently revealed that the United Arab Emirates is seeking an initiative to bring the views of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia closer so as to break the deadlock in the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

United Arab Emirates

DOHA, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: In this handout image provided by Qatar 2022/Supreme Committee, Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022 venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on December 18th, 2020 in Doha, Qatar. Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022™ venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, in front of 50% capacity crowd. The 40,000-capacity venue will host seven matches during Qatar 2022 up to the round-of-16 stage. Fans in attendance were required to show negative COVID-19 test results before entering the venue. (P

Can World Cup soccer help heal Gulf wounds?

Communities torn apart by a yearslong rift between Gulf rulers may need time to heal the wounds of a crisis that damaged social ties that have historically transcended borders.

<<enter caption here>> on October 24, 2011 in Doha, Qatar.

UAE reopens land, sea, air ports to Qatar following Gulf deal

The announcement comes after Gulf leaders this week agreed to end their years-long embargo of Qatar.

Israel, UAE top Middle East vaccination rates

Other countries in the region have only just recently imported vaccines, and the status of vaccination in Iran and Syria in particular is unclear.

Emirati official says Gulf states to work on trade with Qatar before resuming diplomatic ties

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash's comments indicate that healing the Gulf rift may still take more time.

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates

A technician handles collected PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab samples collected as part of COVID-19 coronavirus disease testing, at the Palestinian Gaza-based Health Ministry central laboratory in Gaza City on December 7, 2020. - The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced on December 7 that it will stop testing for the novel coronavirus as it "ran out of examination materials". (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE helps Gaza resume COVID-19 testing as normalization dust settles

The UAE sent a medical aid convoy to the Gaza Strip as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, in the first such shipment since normalizing ties with Israel.

United Arab Emirates