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Iran claims anti-radiation missiles blinded US destroyers in Hormuz during Operation Project Freedom clash
Claim and counter claim are flying between Washington and Tehran about what happened during the 48 hours that Operation Project Freedom was in effect. Iranian state media claims it used a sophisticated anti-radar missile to blind three US warships.
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Is the UAE breaking away?
The UAE has left OPEC, lost a proxy war with Saudi Arabia in Yemen, armed a militia accused of genocide in Sudan, recognised Somaliland alongside Israel, and welcomed an Iron Dome battery onto its soil.
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Fitch raises 2026-27 oil and gas price assumptions on prolonged Hormuz closure
Fitch Ratings has raised its 2026-2027 oil and gas price assumptions on a longer Strait of Hormuz closure, assuming reopening around July, with Brent expected at USD100-110 per barrel through July before falling to USD70 by September.
Qatar resumes LNG shipments through Strait of Hormuz after 70-day wartime halt
Qatar has sent its first liquefied natural gas cargo through the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, marking a tentative resumption of energy exports through the strait.
The Iran war exposes fiscal fragility around the world
The Iran war has arrived at the worst possible fiscal moment for most of the world's major economies. Governments spent heavily on Covid, defence and two energy crises. Fiscal space across most of the developed world is limited or exhausted.
US strikes Iran after destroyers come under fire in Hormuz, Project Freedom collapses
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran came under its most severe test yet on May 8 as Iranian forces launched missiles, drones and fast-attack boats against three US Navy destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia’s oil revenues rebound on Middle East conflict price hike, but gains are modest
Russia’s oil and gas revenues rebounded sharply in April as surging crude prices linked to conflict in the Middle East boosted export earnings, offering the Kremlin temporary relief after months of mounting fiscal pressure.
Europe’s Russian Arctic LNG imports from Yamal hit record high in first four months of 2026
The EU imported more Russian Arctic liquefied natural gas in the first four months of 2026 than in any equivalent period since the Yamal LNG project began exporting in 2017, according to new analysis of Kpler shipping data.
Project Freedom fails and highlights Trump's weak hand
The White House launched Project Freedom on May 4, but US President Donald Trump cancelled it less than 48 hours later in a move that the Iranian press took as a failure and retreat.
COMMENT: Iran war’s geopolitical risks alone is not enough to cause a global recession
The geopolitical shocks of the Gulf war are dominating headlines and investor sentiment, but these shocks rarely act as the primary engine of global economic downturns, according to a note by Ben May of Oxford Economics.
Japan quietly resumes Russian oil imports as Hormuz crisis forces a pragmatic rethink
A cargo of Russian oil arrived in Japan for the first time since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as pragmatism overtakes principles in Tokyo.
Confusion reigns as America’s Operation Project Freedom attempts to escort tankers through Hormuz
Confusion reigned after Iran claimed it had hit two US warships attempting to escort US-flagged tankers through the Strait of Hormuz on May 4, while the US said two US tankers had made the passage.
COMMENT: Gulf economies face uneven shocks to their external position as war disrupts trade flows
The impact of the war on Gulf economies’ external positions is diverging sharply, with some states facing severe current account deterioration while others benefit from higher energy prices Capital Economics said in a note.
Where food accounts for a large slice of imports - Statista
Amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and supply chain disruptions caused by the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, concerns over global food security have intensified, Statista reports.
The Strait of Hormuz is also a digital chokepoint
The IRGC closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 2, choking off a fifth of the world’s oil supplies and causing the “worst oil crisis in history.” However, the IRGC has another card to play: cut the internet cables that run through the Strait.
Iran demands Gulf states pay compensation for war damage
Iran's UN envoy has demanded that Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan pay full compensation for war damage, accusing them of complicity in aggression, in a claim that reverses the position taken by the six states themselves.
How China captured the Gulf while Washington forgot to send an ambassador
Beijing now trades nearly $400bn a year with the Middle East, runs the region's largest infrastructure programmes, and brokers its diplomacy. America still sells the weapons. It is not enough
How Tehran systematically dismantled America's Gulf military network in the first days of the war- NBC
When US and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, striking Iran's nuclear sites, missile factories and military infrastructure, the Trump administration was expecting a walk in the park. It wasn't.
Iran's oil sector fails to "explode" as Trump's shut-in deadline passes
The US blockade of tankers serving Iran’s oil exports is intended to cut Iranian oil exports to near-zero and force its production to stop as storage tanks fill, forcing Tehran to return to the negotiation table. The plan hasn't worked.
Why global population collapse will keep the wars coming
Demographers warned for decades that ageing, declining states grow more dangerous, not less. The wars now spreading from Eastern Europe to the Gulf to East Asia look increasingly like the opening engagements of a long contest over who outlasts whom.