The Opec Fund for International Development has launched a US$1.5bn financing initiative to support countries facing energy, commodity and trade disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. Unveiled in Vienna last week, the Economic Stability, Trade and Resilience Initiative (E-Star) will be deployed from 2026 to 2028 across the fund’s partner countries, the development finance institution said….
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, in Beijing on May 6. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for an end to hostilities in the Middle East and for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened “as soon as possible” by the United States and Iran. In a…
Israel will begin supplying jet fuel to Germany following a recent request received by the Energy Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) announced in a X/Twitter post on Wednesday. Energy Minister Eli Cohen instructed relevant experts to approve the request after the Ministry’s Fuel Administration determined a surplus in jet fuel production, according to the…
[Editor’s Note: Follow the Khaleej Times live blog for the latest regional developments with the US-Israel-Iran ceasefire now in effect.] UAE businesses sharply increased selling prices in April at the fastest rate in nearly 15 years, as supply disruptions linked to escalating Gulf tensions and rising energy costs fed through to the broader non-oil economy, according to…
The US-Israel war against Iran and the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz are reshaping trade and transport links as well as changing regional connectivity across Eurasia. Disruptions to shipping and energy flows in the Strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas trade passes in peacetime, are prompting regional actors to seek…
Şahin Demir 05 May 2026•Update: 06 May 2026 A cargo vessel was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center said Tuesday. UKMTO said it had received a report of the incident from a verified source, adding the environmental impact remains unknown. Authorities are investigating the…
KARACHI: Pakistan’s external sector has come under renewed strain as escalating geopolitical tensions involving Israel, the United States and Iran have added fuel to the flames of an already widening trade imbalance, pushing the country’s monthly trade deficit to a 46?month high of about $4 billion in April 2026. Latest data released by the Pakistan…
On May 5, Anadolu news agency reported that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared a “new front” is forming in the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on social network X, Mr. Ghalibaf said that maritime security and energy transportation through the Strait of Hormuz have been affected by the US and its allies….
A new map featuring two red lines stretching beyond the Strait of Hormuz has become the latest symbol of the escalating war of attrition between Iran and the US. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday released a map marking an expanded maritime area of control to include lengthy sections of the United Arab Emirates’s coastline. In…
Tensions in the Gulf have spiralled this week after the United States and Iran both claimed to have fired on and damaged each other’s ships despite a ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran. After US President Donald Trump announced a US plan to “guide” ships stranded in the Gulf out through the Strait of…
