Category: Middle East

Fri 20 March 2026: Officials in Saudi Arabia believe that the price of oil could rise to $180 per barrel if disruptions persist in the Strait of Hormuz through the end of April, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. Oil prices have been fluctuating wildly since the war began on 28 […]

File photo Fri 20 March 2026: Israeli authorities have banned Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, citing security restrictions imposed amid the war against Iran, Anadolu reports. Palestinians called Friday on worshippers to gather near the Old City to perform prayers as close to Al-Aqsa as possible for marking the end of […]

Fri 20 March 2026: The United States Department of State has approved a $16.5bn deal for arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan as tensions with Iran continue to intensify. On Thursday, the State Department explained that $8.4bn worth of arms would go to the United Arab Emirates to pay for drones, […]

Fri 20 March 2026: Several European nations and Japan have issued a joint statement saying they would take steps to stabilise energy markets, a day after several strikes on energy facilities in the Gulf region sent oil and gas prices soaring amid the United States-Israel war on Iran. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, […]

Thu 19 March 2026: Oil and gas prices have continued rising after Iran attacked energy facilities across the Middle East in retaliation to Israel’s strike on its South Pars gasfield. Early Thursday, Brent futures topped $115 a barrel, their highest in more than a week. Gas prices have also surged by 30 percent. Prices are […]

Thu 19 March 2026: The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options but would further entrench the US in a foreign war, the like of which he has repeatedly promised never to do. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering deploying thousands of troops to ⁠reinforce its operation in the Middle East, ⁠as the United […]

Thu 19 March 2026: The foreign ministers of Qatar, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates have issued a joint statement calling on Iran “to immediately halt its attacks” after they held a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday. They called on Iran to “refrain from any measures […]

Wed 18 March 2026: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that 201 Ukrainian anti-drone specialists have been deployed across the Middle East to help counter Iranian Shahed drones, while an additional 34 stand ready to support these efforts. “Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait. We […]