Iran’s parliament strongly endorsed President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic bid to dispel mistrust at the United Nations last week during a visit which ended with an historic phone call with President Barack Obama, Iranian media said. The backing from the assembly, controlled by political factions deeply loyal to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a further sign that Rouhani has the support of the Iranian establishment. Khamenei, the […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose public support after a trip to the U.S. outweighed the detractors that tried to pelt his convoy with eggs, also has backing from the one who matters most: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After returning from a trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, dozens of people tried to block Rouhani’s way, chanting anti-U.S. slogans. The demonstrators were […]
U.S. stock futures and the dollar came under pressure on Monday as a shutdown of the U.S. government seemed ever more likely, while the euro had political troubles of its own as the Italian government teetered on the edge of collapse. Hardly helping was a surprise downward revision to activity in China’s factory sector. While the final HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) did edge up to 50.2 […]
Concern over budget and debt negotiations in Washington weakened the dollar on Friday and kept a lid on gains in world shares stemming from a positive batch of U.S. jobs numbers. Investors are worried that political maneuvering over the passage of bills needed to keep the U.S. government running beyond September 30 and avoid a debt default could threaten a fragile economic recovery. “Everyone instinctively wants to […]
Asian shares ran out of steam on Friday as investors pondered what policy the U.S. Federal Reserve will pursue after it triggered a global market rally by leaving its stimulus level unchanged. The dollar drifted off a seven-month low against a basket of major currencies and U.S. Treasury yields rose after a string of upbeat U.S. data provided a reminder to markets that the day the Fed […]
Iranians gained direct access to Facebook and Twitter for the first time in four years because of a technical fault, an Iranian official said on Tuesday, denying suggestions the government had lifted a ban on social media. On Monday evening, several Iranians said they gained access to their accounts without having to get round a government firewall, leading them to hope that authorities had relaxed a ban in place […]
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that President Hassan Rouhani had exchanged letters with U.S. President Barack Obama, confirming direct communication between the leaders of the two countries. The United States and Iran cut off formal diplomatic ties in 1980, shortly after students and Islamic militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats hostage. But officials from both countries have said they are open to direct talks […]
India’s newly installed central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan burnished his international credentials at a 2005 U.S. conference warning about the danger of a potential crisis. Now he has one of his own to contend with. Rajan, 50, joined the front lines of a battle to forestall a record slump in the rupee yesterday with a package of measures that may lure $10 billion in foreign-exchange inflows over […]
Syria hailed a “historic American retreat” on Sunday, mockingly accusing President Barack Obama of hesitation and confusion after he delayed a military response to last month’s chemical weapons attack near Damascus until after a congressional vote. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said tests had shown sarin nerve gas was fired on rebel-held areas on August 21, and expressed confidence that U.S. lawmakers would do “what is […]
The U.S. military has not renewed its contract to buy jet fuel from Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because other suppliers made cheaper bids, the U.S. Department of Defense said. Dubai government-owned ENOC was contracted by the U.S. military to supply jet fuel to Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai from mid-2011 to the start of September 2013. ENOC, which makes […]
Gulf stock markets stabilised by the close on Wednesday after plunging in early trade on the prospect of an escalation of Syria’s civil war, as the United States threatened a military strike on Damascus over the use of chemical weapons. Stocks had also tumbled on Tuesday and selling resumed on Wednesday morning as local retail investors, who have dominated trade in recent weeks, scrambled to lock in […]
Dubai and Kuwait City have been ranked in the top 10 biggest improving cities in a global livability survey released on Wednesday. The Economist Intelligence Unit said Dubai’s ranking at number 77 had improved 2.9 per cent in the past five years. Kuwait City, which came in at 81, was also amongst the top 10 most improved, with a 2.5 per cent jump. The survey ranks five […]
Dubai’s stock market reputation as a safe haven in the Middle East was jolted this week as the possibility of a U.S. military strike against Syria spooked all global asset classes. The benchmark DFM stock index slumped 7% on Aug. 27, making it the worst global stock market performer that day. It fell another 1% today as the prospect of Syria’s woes spreading to the wider region, […]
Emirates is breaking out of Dubai. In what will be a curious experiment for one of the world’s fastest-growing and most respected airlines, Emirates will begin flying daily from New York’s JFK International Airport to Milan starting Oct. 1. It will be one of the very few routes in the company’s vast network that doesn’t touch its Dubai hub. The JFK-Milan route is currently served with nonstop […]
The United States and its allies geared up for a probable military strike against Syria that could come within days and would be the most aggressive action by Western powers in the Middle Eastern nation’s two-and-a-half-year civil war. Western envoys have told the Syrian opposition to expect a military response soon against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces as punishment for a chemical weapons attack last week, according to […]
Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that a U.S. attack on Syria would drag the whole region into conflict. “We want to strongly warn against any use of military force in Syria,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran today, in televised comments. “There will definitely be great consequences for the region and complications will not be restricted to Syria, they will engulf the whole region.” Iran […]
President Barack Obama and his top military and national security advisers hashed out options on Saturday for responding to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria amid “increasing signs” that the government used poison gas against civilians. Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, a top U.S. ally, and agreed that chemical weapon use by Syrian President Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces would merit a […]
Iran is raising its exports of iron ore and iron products to China and India in an attempt to replace at least a small part of the massive revenue that has been lost due to sanctions on its oil sales. While Iran’s oil exports have halved in the last few years due to western sanctions over the country’s disputed nuclear program, iron ore exports have grown by […]
By Steen Jakobsen, Saxo Bank Commenting on Egypt is not something I take lightly, particularly when the death toll there continues to rise. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a difficult region to comment on in general. You cannot apply the usual economic models when doing your research, but have to make a careful assessment of evidence on the ground and by observing the evolution […]
LONDON–Iran’s Bank Mellat is claiming GBP500 million ($782 million) from the U.K. Treasury after a London court ruled against a British decision to sanction the bank, a defense lawyer said. The claim underscores the financial risks faced by Western governments as they seek to enforce sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program. The U.K.’s “Supreme Court has referred [the claim] to the High Court so it can assess […]
(Reuters) – Iran has installed 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges, the country’s outgoing nuclear chief was quoted as saying by Iranian media on Saturday. The U.S. and its Western allies are pressing Iran to curb its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran refuses and insists its nuclear activity is for purely peaceful purposes. New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a […]
NEW DELHI—Iran said Friday Tehran and New Delhi are trying to resolve a dispute over an Indian oil tanker that Iranian naval authorities detained this week alleging that the vessel was polluting Iranian waters. India had denied Iran’s allegation, with the country’s Shipping Ministry Chief Surveyor Amitava Banerjee saying that Iran had detained the vessel without “provocation.” State-run Shipping Corp. of India Ltd., the tanker’s owner, said […]
Reuters: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah’s disdain for Iran leaps from U.S. embassy cables. “May God prevent us from falling victim to their evil,” he told U.S. officials, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks. According to another, he told his own diplomats he wanted Washington to “cut off the head of the snake”. On the other side of the Gulf, Iran’s contempt for Saudi Arabia crackles through […]
(Reuters) – Bahrain has deported a U.S. nursery school teacher it says wrote articles on social media sites linked to radical groups and for violating the terms of her work permit as the kingdom intensifies its crackdown on dissent. The Ministry of State for Communications did not identify the woman but said she wrote under a pen name and had broken the law by working as an […]
