_{Emirates Wire | 25 September 2026}

Good morning. Iran has reportedly sent Washington a proposal for a ceasefire lasting up to 60 days, tied to a phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and wider negotiations.

Washington and Tehran remain far apart. Meanwhile, the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country until further notice.

Brent returned above $105 on Thursday, and the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu. Closer to home, Abu Dhabi has extended a building-certification deadline, while the UAE leads its Gulf neighbours in a new electric-mobility index.

Iran puts forward ceasefire proposal

Regional sources briefed by mediators say Tehran’s proposal combines a region-wide ceasefire lasting up to 60 days with the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiators would use the pause to pursue a wider settlement.

The proposal also calls for an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and a halt to attacks on Iran’s Arab neighbours. Washington has not publicly accepted the reported framework.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the Iranian people ‘will not bow to pressure’. He also defended Iran’s claim to shipping access through Hormuz.

Iran and the US held indirect talks through mediators in New York, their first known exchange of this kind in months. A senior Iranian official said afterwards that the two sides remained far apart.

A ceasefire and safer passage through Hormuz could help shipping recover before diplomats settle the conflict in full. Any benefit would depend on whether the ceasefire holds and shipowners are willing to return.

Alongside the negotiations, Washington is tightening restrictions on Iranian airlines. On Thursday, the UAE announced its response.

UAE suspends Iranian airline flights

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country on Thursday. The suspension will remain in place until further notice.

The announcement covers Iranian-operated flights, not a closure of all air links between the two countries. Passengers should check their carrier and flight directly.

The US Treasury sanctioned Iran’s remaining active airlines this month and warned foreign companies that doing business with them could cut those companies off from the global financial system. The restrictions expose companies that provide services such as fuel, landing support, ground handling and ticket sales.

Iran responded by warning neighbouring countries not to enforce the restrictions. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would ensure that airports in countries stopping Iranian flights ‘cannot function’. He did not say what action Iran would take.

The suspension affects Iranian business travellers and passengers connecting through Dubai. Anyone booked on an Iranian carrier should contact the airline about rebooking or refunds before travelling to the airport.

The negotiations over Hormuz also helped shape Thursday’s oil trading. Traders weighed the lack of a settlement alongside a separate dispute over American diesel exports.

Brent returns above $105

The benchmark recovered from below $98 a barrel on Tuesday to above $106 during Thursday’s session. Negotiators had yet to announce an agreement that would reopen Hormuz.

The White House denied a report that it was preparing a 90-day ban on diesel exports. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also said nobody was considering a flat ban, although officials had discussed other ways to keep more diesel in the US.

For the UAE, higher prices could boost oil receipts, but the benefit depends on how much crude it can produce and export. A rise driven by supply disruptions can also raise costs for businesses and consumers.

The security of export routes remains part of that calculation. The latest missile interceptions in Saudi Arabia involved one of the kingdom’s alternatives to Hormuz.

Saudi coalition reports six interceptions

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed six Houthi ballistic missiles on Thursday, preventing attacks on Taif and Yanbu. Saudi Civil Defence issued brief alerts for several places, including Makkah, before lifting them minutes later.

Yanbu is the Red Sea outlet for Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline, Saudi Arabia’s principal route around the Strait of Hormuz. That makes it an important part of the kingdom’s attempt to maintain exports during the conflict.

The UAE has its own bypass through the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline. Further attacks on Yanbu could nevertheless disrupt Saudi exports and add to uncertainty about regional oil supplies.

Abu Dhabi has also updated the timetable for its building-safety programme. Affected owners now have longer to apply for an occupancy certificate.

Abu Dhabi extends certificate deadline

The Department of Municipalities and Transport has moved the deadline for building occupancy-certificate applications from 16 September to 30 November. Affected owners and real estate operators must apply through the Municipal e-Permitting System.

The certificate confirms that a building is safe to use and meets the relevant technical and regulatory standards. Requirements include structural assessments and checks covering fire safety, gas systems, plumbing and ventilation.

Owners who miss the applicable deadline may face fines of up to Dh1 million and orders to correct violations. Under the department’s published guidance, those who have begun formal procedures receive an additional six months, or another period approved by the Urban Planning and Permits Centre, to complete the technical and regulatory work.

Owners should check whether their property falls within the programme's current phase and confirm their completion deadline with the municipality. The extension gives more time to apply; it does not remove the inspection requirements.

The day’s transport news also includes a new assessment of the UAE’s electric-vehicle market. It offers some useful context for residents considering their next car.

UAE leads Gulf electric-mobility index

Arthur D. Little’s 2026 Global Electric Mobility Readiness Index places the UAE first among Gulf Cooperation Council markets and 22nd among the 31 markets assessed. It gives the UAE a score of 53.

The report puts electric vehicles at about 9% of new-vehicle sales in the UAE in 2025, covering battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids. It records roughly 2,800 charging points nationwide.

The index measures more than the number of chargers. It also considers customer readiness, regulation and the cost of ownership.

For anyone considering an electric car, start with where you will charge it. Check access at home or work and the chargers on your regular routes before treating a national ranking as a guide to daily convenience.

What to watch

• Whether Washington and Tehran agree to another round of talks or any part of the ceasefire proposal.

• The effect of the UAE suspension on passengers, Iranian carriers and companies that service their aircraft.

• Any Iranian response to neighbouring countries that enforce the US restrictions.

• Further Houthi attacks on Yanbu or other Saudi infrastructure.

• Brent’s reaction to any movement on Hormuz over the weekend.

• Updates on Etihad Rail’s planned 30 September start from Dubai Al Yalayis, including whether the footbridge to Jumeirah Golf Estates Metro station will be ready.

That is enough uncertainty for one Friday morning.

Have a good weekend. We’ll share our Saturday essay tomorrow, and the newsletter will be back on Monday.

Steve

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_{Emirates Wire | Thursday, 24 September 2026}

Good morning from London. The UAE Central Bank has barred Bank Melli Iran’s branches in the Emirates from conducting financial transactions to and from Iran, including trade finance and fund transfers. The regulator cited compliance failures, including obligations to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism and weapons proliferation.

In New York, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran remained ready for dialogue but would not allow freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while sanctions and the US blockade remained in place. At sea, another cargo ship was struck in the strait, caught fire and was evacuated, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency.

Watch today

• Diplomacy: An agreed next step in US–Iran contacts, and responses to the proposed Sudan truce.

• Shipping and aviation: Further information on the Hormuz incident, Saudi export loadings and airline operating notices.

• Resident savings: The subscription process and full terms for the UAE’s second sovereign retail sukuk.

Bank Melli faces a specific transaction ban

The Central Bank announced its decision on Wednesday after examining Bank Melli Iran’s UAE branches. It acted under the federal banking law, citing failures to comply with UAE laws, regulations and supervisory decisions.

The prohibition applies to every UAE branch, but the published notice does not announce branch closures or a licence revocation. Businesses with affected payments should check their position directly with the bank and their compliance advisers.

UAE joins Trump’s regional meeting

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, took part in President Donald Trump’s meeting with Arab and Islamic leaders and foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Turkey were among the countries represented.

The UAE’s account says the meeting addressed regional developments and security, and that Sheikh Abdullah called for de-escalation and lasting peace. Ministers of State Lana Nusseibeh and Saeed Al Hajeri and UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba also attended.

The separate US–Iran contacts took place on Tuesday through mediators, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating indirectly. Iran’s Foreign Ministry identified a Qatari mediator; Iranian officials told Reuters that Araghchi and Witkoff had not met face-to-face, correcting earlier accounts in Iranian state media.

Pezeshkian’s speech on Wednesday followed Trump’s threat from the same podium to “annihilate” Iran. He said Iran was ready for dialogue but would not negotiate under threats, and defended its right to develop civilian nuclear technology while denying any interest in an atomic weapon.

On Hormuz, he rejected a situation in which other countries could use the waterway while Iran remained subject to sanctions and a US blockade. Bloomberg, citing Iranian state media, reported that Tehran’s conditions included lifting the blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets and ending the conflict on all fronts.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the contacts as a continuation of previous discussions and welcomed the fact that a conversation had taken place. He cautioned against describing them as a “major breakthrough”; neither side had announced an agreement to reopen Hormuz in the reporting checked for this edition.

This edition reflects reporting checked on Wednesday evening. If the talks produce an agreement or a timetable for further negotiations, we’ll return with an update.

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UAE backs US call for a Sudan truce

The UAE also welcomed Washington’s call for an immediate, unconditional humanitarian truce in Sudan and political talks leading to a civilian government. Minister of State Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan praised President Trump’s leadership and the efforts of Marco Rubio and US adviser Massad Boulos to bring the parties towards a political settlement.

Sheikh Shakhboot called for the existing UN arms embargo to be extended across Sudan to help halt hostilities and protect civilians. The UAE statement, issued on Wednesday, does not announce that the warring parties have accepted a truce.

A cargo ship is struck in Hormuz

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said a cargo vessel was hit by an unidentified projectile on Wednesday and was left on fire and adrift, with its crew evacuated. Its initial account reported two casualties without specifying whether they were deaths or injuries; it did not identify who was responsible.

Saudi Arabia has begun restoring an export route that bypasses the strait: sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the East-West pipeline had restarted at a low rate. That report said a cargo was scheduled to load at Yanbu, without confirming that loading had taken place. Brent was quoted at $103.41 a barrel, up 4.19%, at 8.56 pm London time on Wednesday.

On aviation, Washington’s threat of secondary sanctions is intended to ground Iranian aircraft internationally, but that does not establish the status of an individual flight. Anyone travelling should check the operating carrier and departure airport rather than infer a cancellation from the sanctions announcement.

Microsoft sets out Gulf investment and continuity plan

Microsoft announced a technology framework on Wednesday covering the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, with plans to spend more than $10 billion across the four countries by 2030. The spending includes cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure and combines planned investments with additional spending, according to company president Brad Smith.

The company will offer assessments, continuity planning and recovery guidance through a new Middle East digital-resilience initiative. It also plans to extend data-protection and business-continuity commitments to eligible governments and customers in the four countries.

The announcement does not set out eligibility rules or detailed terms for those commitments, and Microsoft did not provide Reuters with a country-by-country spending allocation. For businesses relying on its services, the questions are which systems would be covered and what support would be available during an outage.

UAE residents can subscribe to the second retail sukuk

The Ministry of Finance has opened subscriptions for a five-year sovereign retail T-Sukuk with an annual profit rate of 5.06% and a minimum subscription of Dh1,000. The subscription window runs from 23 to 28 September, with profit payments every six months and trading on Nasdaq Dubai scheduled to begin on 1 October.

Sukuk are Sharia-compliant investment certificates; this issuance is backed by the UAE government and is available to UAE citizens and residents. Subscribers need an investor number, and applications are available through the Dubai Financial Market’s digital channels, the iVestor app, and designated banks.

The five-year term matters when comparing the offer with money kept in a bank account. Before subscribing, read the full terms, including charges and the arrangements for selling before maturity.

Flydubai’s Pokhara service takes off

Flydubai’s inaugural flight arrived in Pokhara on Wednesday, beginning a daily service between Dubai and the Nepalese city. The Kathmandu Post reports that it is Pokhara International Airport’s first daily scheduled commercial international service, following earlier charter operations.

Flights operate from Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3 under an Emirates codeshare, adding a second Nepalese destination to flydubai’s network alongside Kathmandu. The airline announced the route in June; Wednesday’s arrival confirms that the service has now started.

Learning the language of home

Isabel Oakeshott writes in The Telegraph about starting Arabic lessons after two years in the Middle East. She argues that Britons who expect newcomers to learn English at home should make an effort to learn the language while living abroad.

The moment that stayed with her came at an airport in Morocco, where her daughter spoke a little Arabic to the porters and saw their pleasure at the attempt. Oakeshott was proud of her daughter and frustrated that she could not join the conversation, an experience that helped prompt the decision to take lessons.

Have you tried learning Arabic since moving to the UAE? I’d be interested to hear what helped you get beyond the first few lessons, and where you found opportunities to practise.

And if you’re taking a class this week, I hope you find someone patient to practise with afterwards. Have a good Thursday.

Steve

AI tools helped gather and check sources, draft the text and edit this edition. I reviewed and approved the copy and take responsibility for what Emirates Wire publishes.

Good morning from London. Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West oil pipeline at a reduced rate, Reuters reports, while an Iranian official says the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within seven days if Washington eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. The proposed reopening remains conditional; the Iranian official’s account does not establish an agreement with Washington.

In Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid attended funeral prayers for his brother Sheikh Ahmed at Grand Zabeel Mosque on Tuesday. Sheikh Ahmed was laid to rest at Umm Hurair Cemetery as the emirate’s ten-day mourning period continued, with flags at half-mast.

Watch today

• New York: Confirmed accounts of US–Gulf talks, any agreed next steps on Iran and further UAE statements at the UN.

• Saudi exports: Evidence of cargoes loading at Yanbu and the pace of the pipeline’s return to normal operations.

• Iranian airlines: Airport and airline notices as Washington’s sanctions deadline arrives.

Saudi oil returns to the East-West pipeline

Three sources briefed on the operation told Reuters that the pipeline restarted on Tuesday, following damage from drone attacks earlier this month. Two said it was pumping at a low rate, while another said Aramco was seeking to restore flows to four million barrels a day.

The line carries crude across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, providing an export route that bypasses Hormuz. One China-bound cargo was scheduled to load on Tuesday, but the report did not confirm it had loaded; Aramco had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Separately, the senior Iranian official who spoke to Reuters said Tehran could reopen Hormuz within seven days if the US reduced military pressure and lifted the port blockade. The unnamed official said Iran’s delegation in New York had authority to revive diplomacy, with details of an agreement to end hostilities open to discussion through mediators.

UAE takes its priorities to the UN

In New York, the UAE attended Tuesday’s opening of the UN General Assembly’s General Debate. Industry Minister Sultan Al Jaber, Climate Change and Environment Minister Amna Al Dahak, and Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar represented the country, the UAE mission said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed leads the wider delegation, whose stated priorities include conflict resolution, UN reform, responsible use of artificial intelligence, climate action and sustainable water supplies. He also held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers including those of Canada, South Korea and Portugal.

On Gaza, the UAE joined seven other countries in calling on Israel to fulfil its commitments under the peace plan, allow humanitarian aid and help restore essential infrastructure. Their foreign ministers met on Monday and called for the ceasefire to be preserved and for sustained US involvement in implementing the plan.

Saudi Arabia has also been asking Washington to authorise direct strikes against the Houthis. The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing administration officials, that President Donald Trump had ordered preparations for air strikes after an appeal from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then decided against proceeding for the time being.

Firas Maksad, sharing comments he gave to the Financial Times, argued that the strain could accelerate Riyadh’s search for additional security partners while it seeks an accommodation with Tehran. Reuters has reported that Washington offered intelligence-sharing and targeting assistance, even as Trump declined direct strikes.

This edition is published at 5 am UK time. We’ll update our coverage as further details emerge from the meetings with President Trump and the UN General Assembly. If there are significant developments, we’ll publish a mid-morning follow-up with analysis and commentary.

Iranian airlines face US sanctions pressure

Alongside the diplomacy, Washington is pressing companies that keep Iranian aircraft flying. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that all Iranian commercial airlines would be “shut down around the world” from 23 September through the threat of sanctions on their service providers.

He warned that companies providing fuel, landing services or ticket sales risked exclusion from the US dollar system. His statement sets out the intended pressure; it does not establish that every Iranian carrier has stopped operating.

For readers with a booking, the useful check is the operating airline’s latest notice and the departure airport’s flight information. Do not assume that a warning about Iranian carriers establishes the status of a particular UAE flight.

Teaching children how AI works

Back in UAE classrooms, Education Minister Sarah Al Amiri is explaining how children can learn about artificial intelligence without using screens. In an interview published by Tes on Tuesday, she described a simple lesson: an AI system trained only on pictures of red apples might fail to recognise a green one.

The example teaches children how training data can shape a system’s answers. Al Amiri said pupils would learn how AI tools are developed, where bias enters and how to assess their responses.

Tes reports that the national AI literacy framework became mandatory in state schools this September, following a pilot during the previous academic year. Al Amiri said international schools could adapt it to their curricula, and that about 22,000 teachers would receive AI training by the end of the year.

The programme accompanies restrictions on classroom devices: public-school Year 6 pupils are to have screen-free English, Arabic, maths and science lessons. Abu Dhabi also has a separate AI literacy programme across more than 170 private schools, beginning with screen-free activities for younger children before progressing to AI tools.

Eagle Hills agrees terms for Maldives development

Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills has signed commercial terms with the Maldives government for a waterfront and marina development at Ras Malé. The project is planned to include hotels, homes and a marina, with residential leases of up to 99 years.

Reports differ on the proposed investment: The National’s updated account gives about $12 billion, while Maldivian outlet Sun reports $20 billion. Eagle Hills has yet to disclose its direct equity commitment and construction timetable, according to The National.

Abu Dhabi targets more visitors from India

While Eagle Hills plans accommodation overseas, Abu Dhabi’s tourism department is working to bring more visitors to the emirate. The Department of Culture and Tourism signed or renewed 21 agreements at last week’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, including partnerships covering travel distribution, hotels and destination marketing.

Nine marketing agreements with Indian travel companies target 75,500 additional visitors over 12- to 18-month terms. MakeMyTrip accounts for the largest individual target, 37,500 visitors over 18 months; these are partnership objectives, not arrivals already recorded.

What follows

I’ll be looking for a clear account of the New York talks, confirmed cargo loadings at Yanbu and the first operating notices from airlines affected by Washington’s deadline. Those developments will determine whether we return with a mid-morning update.

If you teach in the UAE, or have children at school there, I’d be interested to hear how the AI lessons and screen rules are working in practice. Reply to this email, or send a note to steve@emirateswire.co.uk.

If you’re on the school run, I hope the traffic is kind. Have a good Wednesday.

Steve

AI tools helped gather and check sources, draft the text and edit this edition. I reviewed and approved the copy and take responsibility for what Emirates Wire publishes.

_{Archive photograph, September 2020. Photo: Akbarali / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for publication.}

_{Emirates Wire | Tuesday, 22 September 2026}

Good morning from London. Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the youngest brother of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, died on Monday aged 76. Dubai’s Ruler’s Court declared ten days of official mourning, with flags at half-mast from 21 September.

In New York, the UN General Assembly’s annual general debate opens today. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed will lead the UAE delegation during a week in which Trump is expected to meet Gulf officials to discuss Iran.

Watch today

• New York: Confirmation of Trump’s expected meeting with Gulf officials, who will attend and any readout of the talks.

• Saudi oil exports: An official update on the East-West pipeline, confirmed incidents at Yanbu and notices from shipping companies or insurers.

• Mourning arrangements: Official instructions and changes announced by individual event organisers.

Sheikh Ahmed’s public life

Sheikh Ahmed served as Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security and president of Al Wasl Sports Club. He was the youngest son of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, Dubai’s former ruler.

He graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before joining Dubai’s Central Military Base, which he later commanded. His business roles included chairing A.R.M. Holding and Dubai Real Estate Centre.

Al Wasl’s history records that he formed its first board in 1962, when it was known as Al Zamalek, and chaired it until 1974. His presidency continued over the following decades, and he also established Jebel Ali Racecourse in the early 1990s.

Sheikh Mohammed paid tribute to his brother: “You are absent from our eyes, but not from our prayers and hearts.” President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed also offered condolences, recalling Sheikh Ahmed’s contributions to the UAE’s development since its founding.

What the mourning announcement means

The mourning period runs through 30 September, according to The National. The court’s announcement specifies mourning and flags at half-mast; it does not order offices, schools or private businesses to close, or impose a general ban on entertainment.

Any changes to work or public events depend on the instructions issued by the relevant authorities. If you have an event or appointment during the mourning period, check directly with the organiser. Businesses planning launches or receptions should consult their hosts and partners before proceeding.

Gulf officials expected to meet Trump in New York

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, will lead the country’s delegation in New York from 22 to 28 September. The general debate begins today, after the assembly opened its 81st session on 8 September.

Trump is expected to meet leaders or foreign ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing Axios and unnamed sources. The White House and State Department had not responded to requests for comment in that report.

In Sunday’s Fox News interview, Trump said the options included “wiping Iran out” or letting its economy “rot” unless the two sides reached a deal, according to CNBC. Iran’s military warned of attacks on US interests across the region if Washington launched another strike, and said countries supporting such an operation would be treated as parties to the conflict.

Aramco works towards pipeline restart, Bloomberg reports

Bloomberg reported that Saudi Aramco was working towards a partial restart of its East-West pipeline within days and a return to full capacity within six weeks, citing a person familiar with the matter. Reuters, which carried the report on 18 September, said it could not verify it and that Aramco had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

The same report said Aramco had told at least two European refining customers they would receive no crude in October following the pipeline attack, again citing Bloomberg’s sources. It did not confirm that pipeline flows had resumed.

Houthis claim attacks on Riyadh and Yanbu

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had attacked Riyadh and Yanbu with missiles and drones, causing “large fires”, according to Enterprise’s Monday report. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh and thwarted other attacks, including attempts to target Yanbu.

Reuters video and photographs showed flames and black smoke near Riyadh’s main airport on Saturday. Its report did not establish their cause or independently confirm the damage claimed by the Houthis.

Cosmo launches sales for The Wadi

The Dh6 billion development along Yas Canal is planned to contain 3,950 homes, a hotel and commercial space across about 140,700 square metres. Sales opened on Friday, 18 September.

Cosmo is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Flag Holding Group and Reportage Group, with Reportage overseeing development, delivery and long-term management. Plans include underground parking and a 6km running route through the community.

Last week’s rate increase

The Central Bank of the UAE raised its base rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.9%, effective from 17 September. The rate applies to its Overnight Deposit Facility, and the decision followed the US Federal Reserve’s increase in the interest it pays on reserve balances.

Sharjah Safari reopens for its fifth season

Visitors returned to Al Bardi Reserve in Al Dhaid on Monday. The park recorded 186 births between April and June, including South African giraffes, elephants, lions, oryx, blue wildebeest, impala, nyala and zebra.

It opens daily from 8.30 am to 6 pm. Behind-the-scenes animal-care tours will run during selected periods.

If Sheikh Ahmed’s work or Al Wasl has been part of your life in Dubai, I’d be glad to hear your memories. Reply to this email if you would like to share something.

Take care, especially of anyone grieving today.

Steve

AI tools helped gather and check sources, draft the text and edit this edition. I reviewed and approved the copy and take responsibility for what Emirates Wire publishes.

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Good morning from London. Qatar has called for Gulf governments to work together to help secure a settlement between Washington and Tehran, ahead of prospective talks with Donald Trump in New York this week. Iran, meanwhile, has threatened retaliation against American bases and countries supporting another US attack. For anyone travelling through the Gulf, the US mission’s immediate advice is to watch for disruption.

What to look out for

• New York: Confirmation of the proposed Trump meeting with Gulf leaders and senior officials, including who will attend and what they will discuss.

• Saudi oil exports: An Aramco update on the East-West pipeline repairs and October supplies to European customers.

• Travel: Airline and airport notices following the US warning about possible cancellations and airspace closures.

Qatar calls for a joint Gulf approach

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said on Sunday that Gulf states must work together to restore stability and help settle the US–Iran conflict, telling Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York: “We have to act together responsibly as a region”. He said messages were passing between Washington and Tehran, confirming that communication continues without announcing a breakthrough.

Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders and senior officials on Tuesday during the United Nations General Assembly, Reuters reported, citing Axios; the White House had not confirmed the arrangement. Trump also said on Sunday that he would “probably be open” to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. But he told Fox News he was in “deciding mode” over Iran, with further military action and a negotiated deal among the options.

For the UAE and its neighbours, the question is whether Qatar’s appeal produces a common negotiating position. A confirmed meeting and an agreed agenda would give us something more concrete to assess this week.

Iran threatens countries backing another US attack

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command said on Sunday that another US attack would bring retaliation against American bases and interests throughout the region, and warned that countries supporting the operation would be treated as participants. It claimed unnamed regional governments had backed renewed American action at a meeting in Europe, without supplying evidence that could independently establish the allegation.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also said Hormuz would remain closed until Washington fulfilled commitments under the June agreement. Washington and Tehran gave conflicting accounts of traffic through the strait: US Central Command said cargo movements had increased, while Iran rejected its account. Ghalibaf’s statement should therefore be read as Tehran’s negotiating position, not evidence that all shipping has stopped.

Saudi Arabia reports interceptions after Houthi attacks

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh at dawn on Saturday and thwarted attacks on other locations, including Yanbu. The Houthis claimed attacks on “sensitive” sites in the capital and an Aramco facility in Yanbu, using missiles and drones.

Reuters footage showed flames and black smoke near Riyadh’s main airport, but the reporting did not establish the cause or identify what was damaged. The US subsequently cited Houthi hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports, in its regional travel warning.

US mission shares warning for Gulf travellers

The US Mission to the UAE shared a regional notice on Sunday urging Americans already in the Middle East to stay vigilant and prepare for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruption. Americans outside the region were advised to “seriously reconsider travel to and through” it, with travellers told to monitor airport and airline information.

The post does not announce UAE airport closures or instruct Americans to leave the country. If you have a booking, check the airline’s operating notice before changing plans; a regional warning does not determine the status of an individual flight.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also advises British nationals in the region to prepare for possible cancellations and periodic airspace closures. Its UAE advice tells travellers to follow local authorities’ instructions and keep departure plans under review.

Aramco customers face an October supply gap

Saudi Arabia’s damaged export infrastructure is also affecting deliveries beyond the Gulf: Aramco has told at least two European refining customers that they will receive no crude in October, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters carried the report but said it could not independently verify it, and Aramco had not responded to its request for comment.

The disruption follows the attack on the East-West pipeline, which carries crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Bloomberg reported last week that Aramco was working towards a partial restart within days and full capacity within six weeks, citing a person familiar with the work; the report did not confirm that flows had resumed.

UAE source challenges account of Netanyahu warning

Separately, an Emirati response has added to the dispute over whether President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed personally warned Benjamin Netanyahu before the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. An unnamed UAE official source told The National that the country discusses security matters through the relevant entities and “does not discuss such details at the level of national leaders”.

Haaretz had reported a warning during a telephone conversation about ten days before the attack; Netanyahu’s office denied the account. The latest response challenges the claimed leadership channel, while the UAE’s earlier statement said relevant intelligence was exchanged between agencies.

Check the date your mortgage resets

Back to household finances: three-month EIBOR, the Emirates Interbank Offered Rate, reached 4.36% on Friday, according to Central Bank data carried by Trading Economics. The UAE’s Base Rate is now 3.9%, following last week’s increase.

An EIBOR-linked mortgage changes according to its contractual reset terms, so a higher daily benchmark does not necessarily mean a higher instalment immediately. Borrowers still within a fixed-rate period generally keep their agreed rate until that period ends. If yours is approaching, ask the bank to confirm the new pricing formula and your next reset date.

Ras Al Khaimah plans an aircraft test zone

Elsewhere in the UAE, Ras Al Khaimah has agreed to develop an advanced-air-mobility test zone with Aridge, the Chinese company affiliated with XPeng. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi witnessed the agreement between the company, the emirate’s transport authority and its civil aviation department on Friday.

Aridge will provide aircraft and a specialist team for phased testing of safety, airspace requirements and operating procedures. Potential uses include transport and emergency response, but future operations remain subject to regulatory approval and readiness; the announcement does not establish a passenger service or launch date.

Real Madrid take the trophy on Yas Island

On Yas Island, Real Madrid beat Olympiacos 93–89 at Etihad Arena on Saturday to win the inaugural European Basketball SuperCup. Fenerbahçe finished third after defeating Dubai Basketball 85–77 in the other game at the two-day tournament.

The week ahead

The first question for New York is whether Gulf governments can turn Qatar’s appeal into a proposal they are prepared to pursue together. I will look for a confirmed meeting and a clear account of what follows, while watching for practical notices that affect journeys and deliveries.

AI tools helped gather and check sources, draft the text and edit this edition. I reviewed and approved the copy and take responsibility for what Emirates Wire publishes.

Thank you for reading Emirates Wire. If someone forwarded this to you, please subscribe, and if there is a story, a correction or a tip that belongs in the next brief, send it to steve@emirateswire.co.uk.

If you’re travelling through the Gulf this week, I hope you hear more boarding calls than security alerts. Have a good Monday.

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The UAE embassy in Berlin. Photograph: © Achim Raschka / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed’s state visit to Germany on 9–11 September produced an announcement of €40 billion in intended Emirati investment, with new data centres among the proposed projects. For Germany, the offer promises investment in businesses and infrastructure; for the UAE, the accompanying agreements offer opportunities to expand its industrial capabilities and commercial reach.

It was the first state visit to Germany by a UAE president, although the countries’ strategic partnership dates from 2004. Treating the visit as a sudden discovery of each other’s usefulness would miss how much was already underway. The interesting question is which new agreements can turn existing relationships into projects neither country would deliver as readily on its own.

What the money means

The €40 billion describes intended long-term investment, in ADNOC’s wording, while the joint declaration includes plans for approximately one gigawatt of data-centre capacity. The announcement does not provide a complete project list or disbursement timetable, so readers cannot yet judge how quickly the money will arrive.

The UAE Foreign Ministry’s declaration dated 11 September separately records 30 business memoranda and agreements worth more than €9.66 billion. That gives the visit a substantial commercial programme, but attaching a value to an agreement tells us little about its readiness. A feasibility study still has to establish whether a project makes commercial sense.

The new German-UAE Investment Council is intended to connect governments and companies, identify viable opportunities and address investment barriers. Its usefulness should show up in decisions that finance projects or remove investment barriers. Another forum earns its place when it helps someone complete work that was otherwise stuck.

Germany, for its part, promised to foster a favourable environment for implementing the investment package. Investors will want to know what that means in practice. The council should provide somewhere to raise difficulties with officials, but its creation does not tell a company how a particular application will be decided or how long it will take.

Gas, with a longer timetable

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, and RWE signed a letter of intent to pursue up to two long-term liquefied natural gas supply agreements, with deliveries intended to begin in the early 2030s. That timetable makes this a discussion about Germany’s future supply needs. It cannot offer immediate relief from today’s energy disruption.

ADNOC and its international investment company XRG also signed a memorandum with Germany’s state-owned gas importer, Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE), to explore cooperation across gas supply and associated infrastructure. These arrangements give the parties several ways to deepen their business, provided the commercial terms work.

According to ADNOC, the prospective RWE supplies would serve Germany and other European markets, as well as Asian customers. That detail limits how much of the announcement can be counted as gas earmarked for Germany. The proposed relationship has a wider trading purpose, and the eventual contracts will determine where volumes go and on what terms.

One disagreement is already public. Rainer Seele, XRG’s global chemicals president and Covestro’s supervisory-board chairman, told Handelsblatt that the EU’s methane regulation was cutting Europe off from key supply sources. As a company executive arguing for changes that would benefit suppliers, his objection deserves scrutiny on those terms.

The regulation aims to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas, including by requiring measurement. Buyers’ interest in dependable supplies does not settle how suppliers should demonstrate compliance. Any lasting agreement has to accommodate both.

The industrial return for Abu Dhabi

Covestro provides a more tangible explanation of what the UAE wants from German industry. XRG completed its takeover of the German polymer manufacturer on 10 December 2025, through its subsidiary ADNOC International Germany Holding. The ownership relationship therefore predates last week’s visit.

During the visit, Covestro and TA’ZIZ signed a letter of intent outlining the next steps for a feasibility study of a chemical production chain at Ruwais in Abu Dhabi. The study was first announced in June, so this agreement advances work already underway.

That proposal gives industrial diversification a location and a prospective manufacturing activity. For Abu Dhabi, acquiring a German producer creates an opportunity to develop additional production at home. The study must answer whether Ruwais is the right location and whether the economics justify proceeding.

The partners aim to advance towards a final investment decision, subject to the study and approvals, with production potentially starting in the early 2030s. Owning Covestro gives XRG an established industrial business; building the proposed Ruwais operation would require a further decision and further spending.

The distinction matters when assessing the visit. An acquisition already completed can support new proposals without making those proposals completed investments themselves.

It also changes the question for German industry. Additional production in Abu Dhabi would have to justify itself commercially, while Covestro’s existing operations would need their own investment decisions. Assessing the partnership only by money entering Germany would miss part of its purpose. The Ruwais proposal makes clear that the intended industrial benefits run in both directions.

Wind and computing

Masdar and RWE signed a memorandum to consider joint participation in future German offshore wind auctions, while Masdar and investment firm Luxcara agreed to explore offshore wind and battery-storage projects in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. These are identifiable routes into future projects, each with commercial choices still ahead.

The combination of gas and renewable power makes sense as an investment portfolio across different energy needs. It also cautions against forcing the visit into a single story about either fossil fuels or the energy transition. The companies are pursuing opportunities in both.

The technology announcements are less specific. ADNOC signed collaboration agreements with Bosch Middle East, Siemens Energy and Siemens Industrial to explore advanced technology and artificial intelligence, without naming deployments or delivery dates. There is a plausible industrial purpose here, but insufficient detail to assess what those agreements will produce.

The governments also agreed to explore data hosting through “data embassies”, without setting out their proposed legal arrangements in the joint declaration. Before we can assess that idea properly, we need to know whose data would be hosted and under which country’s protections. The name alone answers neither question.

Berlin’s aviation argument

Aviation offers a clearer example of a concession with immediate political consequences. Germany granted additional traffic rights allowing Emirates to serve Berlin, drawing criticism from Lufthansa. The permission allows up to seven flights a week and excludes onward services from Berlin to third countries.

However, the new arrangement caps Emirates’ frequencies at its four existing German destinations at current levels. Germany has negotiated additional access within defined limits.

Lufthansa said expanding Emirates’ traffic rights would move jobs and economic activity to the Gulf and worsen competitive distortions. Michael Engel, managing director of Germany’s airline association, was blunter, describing the decision as a sell-off of German jobs.

Those objections expose competing interests inside Germany. A government may welcome stronger connections and investment while a domestic airline sees a rival gaining access to its market. A closer bilateral relationship is unlikely to eliminate that disagreement.

The cap on existing frequencies is therefore as important as permission for the additional destination. Emirates gains another place to serve, but the arrangement also limits expansion at the airports it already uses. Calling this an unrestricted opening of Germany’s aviation market would misdescribe the compromise and leave readers unable to judge what each side accepted.

Nor does the timing prove that investment bought the aviation concession. The announcements belong to the same visit; the sources establish no contractual exchange between them.

What happens after the visit

The governments established a Strategic Dialogue to revitalise their 2004 partnership and signed letters of intent covering defence and police cooperation. These give officials a framework for further work, although the declaration does not announce completed defence projects.

Germany also backed a comprehensive, commercially ambitious free-trade agreement between the UAE and the EU, which remains under negotiation. For Abu Dhabi, that support potentially extends the value of the relationship beyond German projects. It is worth following alongside the corporate announcements.

Berlin’s support is politically useful without settling the negotiations. Abu Dhabi can pursue closer access to European markets through a partner with an interest in its success, while still negotiating the terms with the EU. That gives the relationship a purpose beyond the immediate investment programme.

The next assessment should ask which proposals have secured funding and what the companies have agreed to deliver. The gas negotiations deserve their own timetable; the Ruwais study needs its own commercial decision. Treating everything as one €40 billion transaction would obscure the work still required.

For Germany, the gains will depend on where investment arrives and what it sustains. For the UAE, they will depend partly on whether ownership and partnerships help develop businesses beyond its existing strengths. Both questions require evidence from individual projects.

I’ll return to these plans when the partners can say which projects have funding and when construction will begin. Companies with answers are welcome to get in touch; there is room in a future edition for the details.

Emirates Wire is produced by Steve Moore. AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don't publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

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Good morning from London.

Money got more expensive in the UAE yesterday. The Central Bank raised its base rate within hours of the Federal Reserve’s first increase in three years, and the dirham’s peg means the decision passes through to mortgages, business loans and savings accounts here rather than staying in Washington. Oil fell for a second day. In Abu Dhabi, the Executive Council approved new plans for fertility treatment, nurseries and community services.

What to look out for

• Bank-by-bank mortgage and deposit repricing after Thursday’s base-rate move.

• Any Saudi Aramco confirmation that the East-West bypass is carrying crude.

• Iran-war signalling after Saudi Arabia’s warning over the drone downed near Makkah.

UAE base rate rises to 3.9%

The Central Bank of the UAE raised the base rate on its overnight deposit facility by 25 basis points, from 3.65% to 3.9%, effective Thursday 17 September. It kept the rate for borrowing short-term liquidity at 50 basis points above the base rate.

The move followed the Federal Reserve, which raised its target range by a quarter point to 3.75–4% on Wednesday in a unanimous 12-0 vote. It was the Fed’s first increase since 2023, and its updated projections point to another before the year ends.

Because the dirham is pegged to the dollar, the Central Bank moves in step with the Fed. What that means for households depends on the product. Vijay Valecha of Century Financial says the base rate anchors overnight money-market rates and that Eibor, the benchmark behind most local borrowing, moves closely with it, feeding through to variable-rate mortgages and corporate borrowing. Madhur Kakkar of Elevate Financial Services estimates that a full quarter-point rise adds about Dh210 a month, or roughly Dh2,500 a year, to a Dh1.5 million mortgage with 25 years left.

Savers should see the benefit first. Kakkar expects deposit and term-deposit returns to improve before borrowers feel higher repayments, and companies already carrying higher energy and shipping costs will feel the increase soonest.

Borrowing costs rose because of a decision in Washington. Another regional price driver is a repair plan in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco builds a bypass as Brent falls below $104

Saudi Aramco is working to bypass the damaged section of the East-West pipeline and wants about half its capacity back within days, with full capability in roughly six weeks. The account comes from one person familiar with the work, cited by Bloomberg, rather than from an Aramco announcement.

Brent settled at $103.63 on Thursday, down about 2% on the day and its lowest close this month, according to FT data. The 1,200-kilometre line has been shut since last Friday’s drone attack, and it is the route that allows Saudi crude to reach the Red Sea without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Traders had no estimate of the outage’s length until Wednesday, and a reported six-week ceiling, even from an unnamed source, was enough to move the price.

Abu Dhabi’s government spent Thursday on its own agenda, starting with an experiment in how it takes decisions.

Abu Dhabi runs a council session with an AI system

Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council used an agentic AI platform for the first time on Thursday, in a meeting chaired by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

The system, called the AI Committee System, analyses proposals before the session and prepares an executive summary of every agenda item. During the meeting, it offers insights and questions, checks information, raises observations, and proposes recommendations based on the data. Afterwards, it produces analytical reports, minutes, and an action summary. Its outputs and the decisions taken remain traceable to the original source papers.

The council is applying a framework Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid set out in April, when he said half of UAE government sectors, services and operations would run on agentic AI within two years.

The system helped the council work through its agenda. Three of the decisions it reached will be felt in Abu Dhabi households.

Abu Dhabi targets an 80% IVF success rate

Sheikh Khaled approved the Abu Dhabi Programme for the Future of Reproductive Health, which aims to raise the emirate’s IVF success rate to 80% by 2030 using precision medicine, genomics, artificial intelligence and research. The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi will oversee it, covering prevention and preconception health, genetic screening, fertility diagnosis and treatment, and assisted reproductive technologies for both men and women.

The announcement does not say whether the 80% counts pregnancies, live births or another clinical outcome.

The council also approved a fourfold expansion of the Al Ghad Nurseries project, from 3,000 places to 12,000 by 2029, extending it from Abu Dhabi and Al Ain into Al Dhafra. The 10 existing nurseries take in 3,253 children, 80% of whom are the children of working mothers, and the expansion is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs for Emirati women in early childhood education.

The first phase of the Abu Dhabi Liveability Strategy completed more than 60 projects worth over Dh12 billion, part of an approved Dh42 billion programme, and lifted the emirate’s District Completion Index from 67% to 84% in two years. The council approved a second five-year phase, which shifts the focus from building community facilities to running them well.

Abu Dhabi was planning for the people who live there. In Dubai, Emirates spent the week selling to visitors.

Emirates leaves ATM with more than 30 agreements

Emirates closed Arabian Travel Market on Thursday, having signed more than 30 agreements across 16 countries, alongside four Middle East honours at the 2026 World Travel Awards.

The tourism deals span Kenya and Mozambique, Finland, Norway, Bologna, Parma, Malaysia, Japan, the Seychelles and Mauritius, with renewals in Sharjah and a new agreement with Ras Al Khaimah. The Finland agreement lands ahead of the Helsinki launch on 1 October. Kuwait Airways and Emirates will expand their interline arrangement into a reciprocal codeshare.

The airline is also chasing segments beyond leisure. A memorandum with the Medical Tourism Association makes Emirates its preferred airline for medical, wellness and longevity travel; agreements with Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority and with ICEF target education travel; and a partnership with Cutting Edge will build packages around cricket, football, motorsport, golf and tennis fixtures. Emirates publicly showed its first electrically powered Premium Economy seat.

Emirates said on 14 September that it was operating at around 93% of its pre-disruption capacity.

Emirates is selling travel to adults. UAE schools are preparing children for restrictions arriving next year.

Schools prepare families for the under-15 social media rule

Schools across the UAE are spending more time on online safety, screen time and responsible digital behaviour ahead of restrictions that will bar children under 15 from creating or using personal social media accounts. The Cabinet announced the rule in June and gave platforms 12 months to comply.

Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2026 implements Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on child digital safety. It requires age verification, applies additional protections to 15- and 16-year-olds and prohibits advertising targeted at children through tracking or behavioural profiling.

Both principals said the rule cannot do the work on its own. Lisa Johnson, principal of the American Academy for Girls, says giving children more time to mature before managing accounts independently is a sensible safeguard, but the school’s most important role is education, and habits of thought matter more than telling a child something is prohibited. Brian Cleary, head of secondary at Swiss International Scientific School Dubai, says digital wellbeing cannot be handled in a single lesson and that schools and parents need to work in partnership. Both encourage parents to start the conversation before the rules take effect.

Dubai also announced screens of a different kind.

Dubai revives its film festival for December 2027

The Dubai International Film Festival will return on 8 December 2027, ten years after its last edition. Mona Ghanem Al Marri, vice chairperson and managing director of the Dubai Media Council, announced the revival at the Arab Media Summit on Thursday.

She said the festival was not returning to recreate the past, and that the new edition would focus on Arab cinema and on connecting directors, producers, actors and writers with investors. Hesham Sultan Al Olama, chief executive of the Dubai Films and Games Commission, said details would follow in due course.

The original festival ran from 2004 until it was shut down in 2018, eight months before its planned edition. In that time, it held nearly 2,000 screenings, helped more than 300 regional films reach completion and supported more than 200 Arab filmmakers through its Muhr awards. One of them, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda, took post-production money from the festival’s Enjaaz fund and went on to win at Venice.

Before the weekend

Three things stay open over the weekend: whether Saudi Arabia’s bypass moves any crude, which UAE bank moves first on deposit rates, and how far Riyadh takes its warning over the drone downed near Makkah. Of those, the rate rise is the one you will feel personally, usually a month or two later.

Thank you for reading Emirates Wire. If someone forwarded this to you, please subscribe; and if there is a story, a correction or a tip that belongs in the next brief, send it to steve@emirateswire.co.uk.

A quarter of a percentage point sounds like nothing until it turns up in a repayment. Check your statement, then enjoy your Friday.

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WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Any Saudi Aramco timetable for restarting the East-West pipeline; closing-day announcements from Arabian Travel Market in Dubai; and fresh details on the UAE’s cyber defences after officials disclosed 640,000 attempted attacks in one day.

Good morning from London. Abu Dhabi is drawing some of its biggest assets closer while sending capital further afield. L’IMAD has all but completed its move on AD Ports, XRG has bought into the gas route linking the Caspian to Europe, and a Washington judge has dismissed a $2.8 billion claim against the UAE. Yet oil routes, cloud facilities and government networks still show how much the war has changed the operating environment.

L’IMAD CLOSES IN ON FULL CONTROL OF AD PORTS

L’IMAD will own more than 98.5% of AD Ports Group when its tender offer settles by 9 October.

The Abu Dhabi sovereign investor made the offer through ADQ, which already owned 75.42% of the ports group. Investors tendered more than 23.08% of AD Ports’ shares at Dh6.25 each. Payment and registration are due by 9 October, although routine notifications to the Capital Market Authority and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange remain outstanding.

AD Ports operates about 40 terminals in the UAE and has a presence in nearly 50 markets. The tender will leave almost all of that network in Abu Dhabi government hands.

The ports are moving closer to home. Abu Dhabi’s energy capital is travelling in the other direction.

ABU DHABI DEEPENS ITS AZERBAIJAN TIES

XRG has completed its purchase of an undisclosed stake in Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometre network that carries Caspian gas through Georgia and Türkiye to southern Europe. The corridor can deliver up to 26 billion cubic metres of gas a year.

L’IMAD has also agreed with Azerbaijan Investment Holding to pursue investments in industry, critical minerals, transport, energy and digital links. The two agreements deepen Abu Dhabi’s commercial relationship with Baku and add export infrastructure to XRG’s existing 30% interest in Azerbaijan’s Absheron gasfield.

As Abu Dhabi added assets overseas, a Washington court removed a large claim against the state.

UAE DEFEATS $2.8BN LAWSUIT

A US federal judge has dismissed oil trader Hazim Nada’s lawsuit accusing the UAE of directing a campaign that drove his company, Lord Energy, into bankruptcy. Nada sought about $2.8 billion from defendants including the UAE, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Swiss private intelligence firm Alp Services.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the UAE was immune under the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. She dismissed the Swiss defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction and the claim against an American academic for failure to state a claim. The court did not decide whether the alleged campaign occurred.

Nada told Bloomberg that he was disappointed and was considering an appeal.

The judgment closes one threat in Washington. The pressure on Gulf energy routes remains unresolved.

OIL SLIPS AS INVENTORIES RISE

Brent fell below $108 a barrel on Wednesday after US crude inventories unexpectedly rose by 7.1 million barrels in the week to 11 September. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected a draw of about 1.6 million barrels.

The fall came despite the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline after last Friday’s attack. The line had been moving about 4 million barrels a day to the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright expects flows to resume within days, but Reuters sources offered estimates ranging from an earlier partial restart to five or six weeks of repairs.

The price move suggests traders are weighing the American stock build more heavily than an outage whose length nobody has yet established.

Pipelines carry oil around the Strait. Cloud networks were meant to route data around local failures, until the war exceeded their design.

AWS CANNOT RECOVER ONE UAE ZONE

Amazon Web Services says it cannot restore access to resources and data held only in mec1-az2, one of the three availability zones in its UAE cloud region, after wartime damage. AWS is still working on the region’s other two zones.

The episode gives the UAE’s planned expansion in artificial intelligence a practical warning: customers must spread critical workloads across separate zones or regions if they want them to survive the loss of one site.

The war damaged one part of the UAE’s cloud infrastructure. Its networks are also absorbing hundreds of thousands of attempted intrusions.

UAE BLOCKS 640,000 CYBERATTACKS

The UAE countered more than 640,000 cyberattack attempts in a single day, Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, told the Arab Media Summit. He said one attempt targeted data held by a private company that supports the government.

The number counts attempted attacks, not successful breaches. It nevertheless shows the pressure on the systems behind government services and critical infrastructure.

Security dominated the large systems. At Arabian Travel Market, the deals were smaller but immediately useful to travellers.

EMIRATES SIGNS 11 ATM AGREEMENTS

Emirates signed 11 agreements on the second day of Arabian Travel Market, covering seven destinations as well as distribution, employee travel and airline partnerships.

The carrier renewed tourism agreements with Sri Lanka and the Maldives, signed new arrangements with Ras Al Khaimah and Japan, and agreed with Kuwait Airways to expand their interline relationship into a reciprocal codeshare. A separate agreement with the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration covers repatriation, welfare and livelihood support for Filipino workers.

Emirates is widening the journeys it can sell. Abu Dhabi is examining how passengers might complete more of them by rail.

ETIHAD STUDIES AIRPORT CONNECTION

Etihad Airways and Etihad Rail will study better connections between Mohamed bin Zayed City station and Zayed International Airport. The agreement covers shuttle services, integrated air-and-rail booking and station-based passenger services; it does not yet commit the companies to build a railway into the terminal.

The distinction matters. For now, the project is a study of the final link between the national railway and Abu Dhabi’s airport, not a confirmed rail-to-terminal line.

One proposed connection would join rail and air. Meta’s latest offer joins four familiar apps behind a menu of subscriptions.

META CHARGES FOR APP EXTRAS

Meta has launched optional subscriptions across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Meta AI in the UAE. The basic apps remain free.

WhatsApp Plus costs Dh5.99 a month, while Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus cost Dh7.99 each. The cross-platform Core package starts at Dh22.99 and adds higher limits for AI image and video tools. Creator and business plans range from Dh46.99 to Dh1,199 a month.

The Dh5.99 headline is therefore the price of WhatsApp Plus, not an all-app Meta One bundle.

BEFORE TOMORROW

Thursday brings the final day of Arabian Travel Market, another Asian oil session and perhaps a firmer answer from Saudi Aramco on the East-West pipeline. The most important number may be a date: when the line can carry crude to Yanbu again.

Thank you for reading Emirates Wire. If someone forwarded this edition to you, please subscribe; and if there is a story, correction or tip that belongs in tomorrow’s brief, send it to steve@emirateswire.co.uk.

Enough for one morning. Have a good Thursday, and welcome back tomorrow.

— Steve

Steve Moore

Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026 at the National Liberal Club, London

emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don't publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

What to look out for today: any response from ADNOC or Iraq’s state oil marketer to Reuters’ crude-buying report; a Saudi or Aramco timetable for the East-West pipeline; and the result of L’IMAD’s tender for the AD Ports shares it does not already own.

Good morning. ADNOC has become the biggest lifter of Iraqi crude during the war, according to Reuters, securing steep discounts while Gulf governments reconsider how far American bases can protect them from Iran. In Dubai, officials are urging foreign governments to ease travel warnings as visitor numbers and hotel occupancy recover.

ADNOC buys Iraqi crude at wartime discounts

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has bought millions of barrels of discounted Iraqi crude through its trading arm, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. Two Iraqi energy sources said ADNOC was the largest lifter of Iraqi crude in August and September.

One source said ADNOC agreed to buy 32 million barrels for August at discounts of $24.90 to $27 a barrel. A second source said Iraq’s State Organisation for Marketing of Oil allocated that volume, but ADNOC lifted 20 million barrels because export constraints and shortages at Basra Oil Company restricted supply.

For September, the first source put the agreed volume at 40 million barrels: 10 million at an $18 discount and 30 million at a $25 discount. Those discounts would total $930 million if ADNOC lifted every barrel, before freight, financing, quality differences and other costs.

The second source said ADNOC had lifted 14 million barrels so far in September. A third described a separate purchase of about 20 million barrels for loading between September and October.

The distinction matters. Reuters’ sources describe agreed, allocated and lifted barrels, rather than one completed 72-million-barrel purchase. Even on the lower figures, ADNOC is using its trading operation to buy distressed regional supply while Iraq restores exports cut earlier in the war.

Buying the barrels addresses the immediate shortage. Reducing the risk that created the discount is harder.

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Gulf states test diplomacy

The American military presence has not prevented Iranian retaliation against US partners in the Gulf, the New York Times reports. Gulf governments are exploring direct talks with Tehran to reduce the risk.

The UAE’s commercial and diplomatic responses now run in parallel. ADNOC is buying barrels displaced by the conflict while Abu Dhabi maintains enough contact with Iran to protect trade, shipping and the Strait of Hormuz. The US remains the Gulf’s main security partner; direct diplomacy gives the UAE another way to limit its exposure.

The war is also hitting Dubai’s airlines, hotels and insurers.

Dubai targets travel warnings

The UAE is asking foreign governments to remove it from their travel-warning lists as Dubai’s tourism sector recovers, Bloomberg reports. Dubai welcomed 869,000 international overnight visitors in August, its strongest month since the war began in late February. Hotel occupancy rose from 36% in March to 66% in August.

The recovery remains incomplete. August occupancy stood at 89% of its level a year earlier.

Issam Kazim, chief executive of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said easing the warnings would help with insurance and encourage foreign airlines to return. Travellers may be willing to return before insurers, foreign ministries and international carriers do.

As visitors return, the routes carrying Gulf oil remain exposed.

Saudi pipeline timing splits

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline would restart within days after a drone attack forced its closure. Other reporting says repairs could take several weeks, and Saudi Aramco had not published a timetable by Tuesday evening.

The disruption widened on Tuesday. Shipping sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had suspended oil loadings at its Red Sea terminal in Yanbu, while some European buyers were told that late-September cargoes would be cancelled. Brent rose nearly $3 to trade above $108 a barrel during the US session.

The East-West line carries Saudi crude from the eastern oilfields to Yanbu and avoids the Strait of Hormuz. Until Riyadh confirms a restart, the outage puts more pressure on exports through Hormuz and on the UAE’s route to Fujairah.

Even as oil routes remain disrupted, Dubai’s airlines are rebuilding passenger traffic.

Emirates adds Jaywan payments

From today, Emirates customers can use Jaywan, the UAE’s national card scheme, to book flights from Dubai on emirates.com or at Emirates retail stores. The airline will accept Jaywan Royal Debit, Prestige Debit and Prepaid cards, with discounted fares across all cabins and most fare types for eligible bookings.

Emirates Skywards has also opened a double-Miles offer on eligible Emirates and flydubai flights. Members must register and book by 30 September and complete travel by 30 November.

Emirates is changing how customers pay as flydubai adds another route.

Flydubai starts Bangkok route

Flydubai began twice-daily flights on Tuesday between Dubai International Terminal 3 and Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport. Bangkok is its second destination in Thailand after Krabi, taking the airline’s Thai schedule to 28 flights a week.

The return of international travel also shapes the UAE’s winter flu campaign.

Flu campaign widens

The UAE has added school pupils and Hajj and Umrah travellers to the priority groups for its 2026–27 seasonal flu campaign. Other priority groups include pregnant women, children aged six months and over, older people, patients with chronic illnesses and healthcare workers. The campaign runs until 31 March 2027.

Health officials are looking ahead to winter. At the Arab Media Summit, Ahmad Al-Sharaa warned about the more immediate risk of regional escalation.

Al-Sharaa warns of escalation

Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa told Euronews at Dubai’s Arab Media Summit that regional escalation seemed likely, but urged governments to remain calm and work together. He said Syria needed stability after decades of destruction and war.

Elsewhere in government, Sheikh Mohamed made a senior Interior Ministry appointment.

Interior Ministry appointment

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has appointed Brigadier Dr Ali Abdullah bin Daan Al Ghafli as secretary-general of the Office of the Minister of Interior. The federal decree gives him the rank of ministry undersecretary.

Watch today

• ADNOC and Iraq: any comment on Reuters’ figures, further tanker liftings or new tenders from Iraq’s State Organisation for Marketing of Oil.

• East-West pipeline: confirmation from Saudi Aramco or the Saudi Energy Ministry of a partial or full restart, and whether Yanbu loadings resume.

• Travel warnings: changes by foreign governments and return dates from international airlines that have suspended UAE services.

• AD Ports: L’IMAD’s AED 6.25-a-share offer closed at 15:00 on Tuesday. The result is due today unless the offer is extended.

• Gulf tourist visa: a firm launch date, fee or application process. The Gulf Cooperation Council still says only that the permit will launch “soon”.

Last Wednesday we filled a room at the National Liberal Club to ask what the widening Gulf conflict changes about the UAE, and about Britain’s relationship with it. David Waddell of BBC News chaired, with Michael Stephens of RUSI, James Swanston of Barclays and Sir Oliver Dowden MP. You can watch the full recording here:

Thank you for reading Emirates Wire. If you have a story, a tip or a perspective that belongs in these pages, write to me at steve@emirateswire.co.uk. The best briefings usually begin with somebody telling me what everyone else has missed.

I’d better sign off before the wires produce another lead. I’ll be back tomorrow. Until then, have a good Wednesday.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026 at the National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don’t publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

Subscribe now

What to watch today

Saudi Arabia’s attempt to send more oil through the Strait of Hormuz; any timetable for repairing the East-West pipeline; and announcements from the second day of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

Good morning. Saudi Arabia is trying to replace its disabled Red Sea export route by sending more crude through the Strait of Hormuz, a route the East-West pipeline let it avoid. Tanker shortages and shipping risks will limit how much oil Riyadh can move.

Saudi Arabia turns to Hormuz

Saudi Arabia is seeking to increase oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz after drone attacks forced it to close the East-West pipeline, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the plans.

The kingdom exported close to four million barrels a day in early September. About one million barrels passed through Hormuz and most of the remainder left through Yanbu, the Red Sea port at the end of the pipeline, according to Bloomberg. Saudi exports had fallen to about three million barrels a day in August, their lowest level in at least nine years.

The East-West pipeline can carry seven million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia had earmarked about five million barrels of that capacity for exports and used the remainder to supply refineries on the Red Sea coast.

The repair timetable remains unclear. Two regional officials told the Associated Press that the pipeline could remain out of service for several weeks, while US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he expected it to return “very soon”. Saudi Aramco declined to comment, and the Energy Ministry had issued no update by Monday evening.

Saudi oil buyers and traders told Reuters that Yanbu had enough stored crude to maintain exports for five to seven days. If the pipeline remains closed beyond that period, the disruption could remove about four million barrels a day, or 4% of global supply.

Sending more crude through Hormuz will require more tankers willing to enter the strait. The cost of carrying Gulf oil to China reached about $1 million a day on Monday, the highest rate recorded on the route.

Oil jumps above $107

Brent jumped $3.62 to $108.23 at Monday’s open, while West Texas Intermediate rose $3.15 to $103.20. Brent remained above $107 later in the session after closing at $104.61 on Friday.

Traders were assessing the pipeline shutdown, Riyadh’s attempt to increase Hormuz exports and the postponement of regional talks on shipping through the strait.

Oman postpones Hormuz talks

Oman postponed Monday’s planned meeting between Iran and Gulf states on a temporary shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the decision was taken “in the interests of consensus”.

The announcement came as the Houthis launched another drone-and-missile attack on a military base in southern Saudi Arabia. Oman has not announced a new date for the talks.

Preliminary tracking data recorded seven ships passing through Hormuz last Thursday, down from 11 the previous day. Iran had planned to use the meeting to discuss rules for a temporary route through the strait.

Sheikh Khaled meets Putin

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday during the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

They discussed UAE-Russia relations and exchanged views on regional and international issues. During the summit, Sheikh Khaled also held separate talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

BRICS members unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration. The 45-page document contains 140 points and calls for “maximum restraint” in the Middle East.

Dubai tourism begins to recover

Arabian Travel Market enters its second day at Dubai World Trade Centre today. The event runs until Thursday.

As the event opened on Monday, flydubai said it had restored operations to 85% of its network. The airline now serves more than 125 destinations in 56 countries.

The Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism reported 869,000 international overnight visitors in August, the highest monthly total since February. Dubai welcomed 6.97 million visitors in the first eight months of the year, while hotel occupancy reached 66% in August.

UAE mourns two servicemen

The Ministry of Defence announced on Monday that two servicemen had died during a training mission in the UAE. It named them as Major Abdullah Shamis Al Menhali and candidate Saeed Abdullah Al Shamsi.

The ministry offered its condolences to their families. A military funeral was held at Zayed Military Hospital on Monday.

The ministry gave no further details about the mission.

E311 limit falls to 100km/h

Abu Dhabi reduced the speed limit on a section of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Road, the E311, from 120km/h to 100km/h on Monday. The new limit applies in both directions.

Drivers using the road today should follow the revised signs.

Patent-fee exemptions begin

Student inventors and People of Determination are now exempt from specified government fees for patents and other industrial-property services.

Cabinet Resolution No. 136 of 2026 covers services including applications for patents, utility models, industrial designs and integrated-circuit layouts. It took effect on Monday.

The exemptions apply only to the services listed in the resolution.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026 at the National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

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AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don’t publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

Last Wednesday, we filled a room at the National Liberal Club to ask what the widening Gulf conflict actually changes about the UAE and Britain’s relationship with it. David Waddell of BBC News chaired, with Michael Stephens of RUSI, James Swanston of Barclays and Sir Oliver Dowden MP. The full recording is here: https://open.substack.com/live-stream/353198

What to look out for today: any follow-up to Sheikh Khaled’s meeting with Iran’s president; the timetable for reopening Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline; and Brent’s response to the closure of the pipeline that lets Saudi crude bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Good morning. Drones launched from Iraq forced Saudi Arabia to shut its main westward oil pipeline. In New Delhi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Sheikh Khaled meets Iran’s president

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Masoud Pezeshkian had not met face to face since the Iran war began. They met on Saturday at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, and both called for de-escalation.

Sheikh Khaled led the UAE delegation to the two-day summit.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, said the meeting reflected the UAE’s policy of combining “deterrence and diplomacy”.

Saudi Arabia’s Hormuz bypass goes offline

Drones launched from Iraq struck the East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions, starting fires and causing injuries. Saudi Arabia shut the line.

The 1,200-kilometre pipeline carries crude from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, allowing exports to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. Through the conflict, it has moved between four million and five million barrels a day.

That leaves the Habshan-Fujairah line, run by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), carrying more of the region’s Hormuz-free exports — about 1.8 million barrels a day.

The UAE condemned the strikes as a violation of Saudi sovereignty and pledged full support for the kingdom’s defence of its territory. Baghdad confirmed the drones came from Iraqi territory, opened an investigation and dismissed the commander in charge of military operations in Maysan province.

Riyadh held off retaliation at the Iraqi prime minister’s request but reserved the right to defend its territory and infrastructure.

War tests the UAE boom

Higher fuel and import costs are slowing the post-pandemic boom, and the conflict has disrupted aviation, tourism, property and supply chains. The UAE Central Bank expects growth to fall from 6.2% in 2025 to 1.7% this year.

Dubai International Airport’s passenger traffic fell 31.3% in the first half, and Dubai hotel occupancy dropped to about 64% in August from 76% a year earlier. Petrol prices have risen by more than 60% since the war began.

People and capital are still arriving. Dubai has added about 200,000 residents this year, the Dubai International Financial Centre has passed 10,000 active companies, and Abu Dhabi Global Market added 4,700 workers in the first half.

Parents are still enrolling. GEMS Education expects enrolment to reach 147,000 this year, and Taaleem’s pupil numbers have risen about 7% to 19,500. Seven new private schools have opened in Dubai, adding 17,000 places.

For 2027, the Central Bank forecasts growth of 9.8%, built chiefly on a projected 25.7% expansion in the hydrocarbon economy. It expects non-hydrocarbon growth of 4.5%. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg put overall growth closer to 7%.

UAE and Germany agree on an investment council

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz launched a Strategic Dialogue during last week’s state visit to Berlin and signed a declaration of intent to establish a joint investment council.

The UAE plans to invest €40 billion ($46 billion) in Germany across artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, energy and industry, including about one gigawatt of new data-centre capacity.

The 29 agreements also cover defence, energy and easier access to German airports for UAE citizens. Germany will allow one UAE national carrier, which the reporting does not name, to fly to a fifth German city.

Oil keeps its conflict premium

Brent settled at $104.61 a barrel on Friday, down $3.02, or 2.81%, during the session. It remained 17.57% higher over the preceding month and 56.16% higher than a year earlier.

Traders open the week weighing the loss of a pipeline carrying four to five million barrels a day, alongside continued disruption around Hormuz.

Dubai’s 24-carat gold price slipped to Dh524 a gram on Sunday. The 22-carat rate stood at Dh485.25.

More than 170 UAE flights delayed

FlightAware listed 122 delays at Dubai International Airport and 51 at Zayed International Airport by Sunday afternoon. Flydubai also cancelled two services between Dubai and Bahrain.

Some passengers travelling from Indian cities faced delays of up to 12 hours. Airlines have rerouted around the conflict zone, and the knock-on delays have spread across the Gulf.

Passengers flying today should check directly with their airline before leaving for the airport.

$10 million for Haiti

Political instability and gang violence have displaced more than one million Haitians. The UAE has allocated $10 million for humanitarian work there.

The Emirates Red Crescent will provide food, shelter, medicines, medical equipment, water and sanitation support, starting with displaced families.

Nepal team rescues ten more survivors

The UAE Search and Rescue Team has rescued another ten survivors reported missing after the Nepal floods, taking the total to 18 since the mission began.

Teams are searching around Rasuwa and the Trishuli River using drones, aerial surveys and three-dimensional mapping. A fifth UAE aircraft delivered 34 tonnes of aid, including jet skis, rescue boats, solar panels and specialist search-and-rescue equipment.

Sheikh Hamdan approves first leadership medal

Dubai’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, has approved the first recipient of the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Medal, a Dubai government official of director-general rank. He will name the recipient at the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Forum on 23 September.

The annual medal recognises a director-general who develops and empowers the next tier of Dubai government leaders.

Watch tomorrow

UAE-Iran diplomacy: whether Monday produces plans for further talks after the New Delhi meeting.

Saudi pipeline: any reopening timetable, damage assessment or evidence identifying the group behind the attack.

Oil: whether Brent holds above $100 after markets absorb the pipeline closure.

Algeria: any further restrictions after Algiers severed relations with the UAE on Thursday, expelled the Emirati ambassador and closed its airspace to UAE-registered aircraft. Commercial flights into Algiers are exempt until the end of 2026.

The UAE economy: early September figures for tourism, airport traffic and property sales.

Berlin: named projects, locations and delivery dates under the €40 billion programme.

— Steve

Steve Moore

Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026 at the National Liberal Club, London

emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don’t publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

Here is the full recording of our first Emirates Wire event, held at the National Liberal Club on 9 September 2026.

It was a lovely evening, and I want to start with thanks. The National Liberal Club gave us a splendid setting, with high ceilings, portraits and the faint sense that a good argument has been had in that room before. We filled it. Every seat was taken, people stayed for the whole discussion and then stayed on for drinks afterwards, and a generous audience joined us on the livestream. For a first outing, we could not have asked for more. Thank you to everyone who gave up their evening to debate these questions with us, and to Roy and George, who made the introduction that started it all.

David Waddell chaired with a firm hand and a light touch. Michael Stephens spoke on security, James Swanston on the economy, and Sir Oliver Dowden on the wider picture. Michael stepped in at very short notice when Burcu couldn't make it from Istanbul, and the evening owes him a great deal.

The question we put to the panel was straightforward. What does the current Gulf conflict actually change about the United Arab Emirates? The answers were better than most coverage has managed.

The security argument reframed the evening. The UAE spent the years after 2019 building a foreign policy around prosperity, careful hedging and a place at the centre of trade between Asia and Europe. COVID and 7 October broke that plan, and survival has moved back to the front. The harder point came later. The Emirati military was built with American help to deter Iran in a short, sharp exchange, not in months of escalation and de-escalation. Interceptor stocks are low and cannot be replaced quickly. That is why Abu Dhabi keeps a channel open to Tehran whatever Washington would prefer, and why the divergence with Saudi Arabia now runs deeper than most observers assume.

The economics cut against the panic. First-quarter output fell about 4.5 per cent quarter on quarter, and oil production dropped to roughly 1.8m barrels a day in March, against 3.2m before. Exports were back near 3m by June and July. The Habshan-to-Fujairah pipeline carried the oil while the Strait of Hormuz was shut, and a second parallel line doubles that capacity. Behind it all sit sovereign wealth funds of around $2.4tn and reserves that absorbed a record $26bn drawdown in March and still left an enormous cushion.

The questions from the floor were as good as the panel, ranging across the Saudi defence pact, how long the conflict lasts, and the animosity between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Sir Oliver closed on the assumption that had failed. Not a flare-up followed by a declared victory, but a permanent low-level conflict that neither side has much incentive to end, with the Emiratis better placed than most to live with it.

Do watch it in full. We intend to make this a regular gathering, and we would be delighted to see you at the next one.

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire

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Emirates Wire is a free briefing on the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf, written for people who need the detail rather than the headlines. Subscribe to get each edition in your inbox, plus an invitation to the next event before seats run out.

Today: fallout from Algeria’s break with Abu Dhabi; the companies and dollar splits behind Berlin’s €40bn package; and whether CENTCOM answers Iran’s claimed 20-ship strike near Hormuz.

Good morning. Algeria cut ties with the UAE on Thursday, the same day Sheikh Mohamed closed his Berlin visit with a €40bn investment pledge. It is the sharpest North Africa rupture the UAE has faced in years. Here is what you need to know.

Algeria severs diplomatic ties with the UAE

Algiers said on Thursday it had exhausted all means to preserve bilateral relations, accusing Abu Dhabi of interference in national and regional affairs. The Algerian foreign ministry confirmed the move on state television. Algeria has long objected to Abu Dhabi’s role in the Sahel and West Africa; a full break threatens LNG supply routes, sovereign-wealth flows and defence contacts across the Maghreb.

The rupture lands the same day Abu Dhabi closed its biggest European deal of the month.

UAE pledges €40bn fresh investment in Germany as Berlin visit closes

Sheikh Mohamed and Chancellor Merz announced in Berlin on Thursday that the UAE will invest an additional €40bn ($46bn) in Germany, spanning artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, energy and industry. The package more than doubles the UAE’s existing €34bn commitment to Germany. It includes new data centres with about 1 gigawatt of capacity and further deals involving Covestro, RWE, ADNOC and Masdar.

The two leaders signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to establish a German-UAE Investment Council, and Sheikh Mohamed announced a new Strategic Dialogue framework. Bilateral non-oil trade reached $15.5bn in 2025, and nearly 2,000 German firms already operate in the UAE.

Vy Capital and Shamal join Boring Co’s $3bn round

Dubai-based Vy Capital and Shamal Holding, the vehicle investing for Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, joined Boring Co’s $3bn Series D on Thursday, valuing the tunnelling company at $23bn.

Vy was founded in 2013 by former Goldman Sachs bankers Alexander Tamas and Mateusz Szeszkowski. It holds a $40bn stake in SpaceX — the fifth-largest, behind Alphabet and Fidelity — and has backed Neuralink across multiple rounds. Tamas sits on a digital-economy advisory council appointed by Dubai’s ruler, and Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company has previously subscribed to a Vy-managed fund.

Brent settles at $101.21 as Gulf attacks widen

Brent crude futures settled at $101.21 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest close since late May. Front-month prices then pushed as high as $105.84 in Thursday’s session before easing. Prices rose on the heaviest attacks on commercial shipping since the US-Iran conflict began, Houthi strikes on Saudi energy sites, and Iran’s partial suspension of its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.

Dubai 24-carat gold held near record levels at Dh531.25 a gram.

Iran claims 20-ship strike at Hormuz; UKMTO logs vessels ablaze

UKMTO reported disabling fire on several merchant vessels in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, with multiple ships burning. Iran said it had struck 20 ships attempting to transit Hormuz. Reuters called it the largest wave of attacks on shipping since the conflict began. UKMTO has recorded 83 Iran-US conflict incidents and 39 piracy attacks across Middle Eastern waters so far this year.

Azizi launches Dh30bn Sharjah masterplan

Azizi Developments launched Azizi Florence on Thursday: a Dh30bn ($8.2bn) masterplan of 1,130 villas, more than 6,000 townhouses and 3,500 apartments across six residential clusters. Townhouses start at Dh1.89 million. It is Azizi’s first Sharjah project after more than three decades in Dubai, and the largest master community ever announced in the emirate.

Bloom Holding launches Alhambra, closing out Bloom Living

Bloom Holding launched Alhambra on Wednesday, the final release of its Bloom Living community in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed City. Alhambra has 460 homes across five buildings. The Bloom Living masterplan spans 2.2 million square metres and more than 4,500 units.

UAE search-and-rescue team in Nepal finds six missing

The UAE search-and-rescue team in Nepal, deployed on Sheikh Mohamed’s orders, said on Thursday it had found six people reported missing after the floods and landslides. A fourth UAE relief aircraft landed on Tuesday, carrying 38 tonnes of aid and 500 tents. The operation is part of a $10 million UAE mobilisation.

Watch tomorrow

Algeria fallout: official responses from Abu Dhabi and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and how Algiers’s move feeds into Sudan, Sahel security and LNG-corridor conversations.

Berlin readout: named companies, dollar splits and delivery windows behind the €40bn — data-centre siting, Covestro’s Leverkusen and Dormagen sites, RWE-Masdar’s next battery-storage locations, and the German-UAE Investment Council’s first agenda.

Oil and Hormuz: whether Brent holds above $100, and any CENTCOM response to Iran’s 20-ship claim and Jordan’s interception of 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles.

Musk-UAE capital table: whether ADQ, Mubadala or ADIA appears on Boring Co’s Series D disclosure, and any movement on Dubai’s proposed Boring tunnel project.

— Steve

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Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026, National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. Nothing is published that I haven’t personally stood behind.

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What to look out for today: the Villa Borsig ceremonial welcome at 10:00 Berlin time and the expected multi-billion-dollar AI, energy and investment signings; whether Brent holds above $101 through the Asia session; and any further Iranian retaliation or UKMTO advisory following the Jordan missile strike.

Good morning. A single Berlin arrival and a single price line define today’s story — a historic UAE state visit landing the same day Brent broke through $100 for the first time since July. Here’s what you need to know.

MBZ Lands in Berlin With Luftwaffe Escort for Historic First State Visit

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Berlin on Wednesday for a state visit — the first ever by a UAE President to Germany — with his aircraft escorted by German military planes on entry into German airspace. President Steinmeier will receive Sheikh Mohamed with military honours at Villa Borsig on Thursday at 10:00 Berlin time. The two sides are expected to sign AI, energy and investment agreements worth “several billion dollars” the same day, followed by a Chancellor Merz meeting.

This is the marquee diplomatic moment of the month — Abu Dhabi’s strategic reset with Berlin arriving at the exact hour the region’s oil market broke through a psychological threshold.

Brent Settles at $101 as Middle East Supply Squeeze Intensifies

Brent crude futures settled at $101.21 a barrel on Wednesday, up $3.29 or 3.4% on Tuesday’s $97.92 close, after touching an intraday high of $101.58. It was Brent’s highest close since 22 May and its first settle above $100 since late July. The rally reflects intensifying attacks on tankers, shrinking flows through the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi strikes on Saudi energy facilities, and Tehran’s threats of “economic warfare”. It caps a fourth straight session of gains and revives global inflation worries.

Gold in Dubai held near record levels, with 24K at Dh531.75/g.

Iran Signals It’s Ready for a “More Intense War,” Won’t Back Down

A senior Iranian official told Bloomberg that Tehran is ready for a more intense war and will escalate its counterstrikes if the US continues attacking its territory and infrastructure. The official, speaking anonymously, said Iran will not back down despite the American naval blockade and tanker strikes. Iran’s leaders view the war as an existential threat that leaves them little choice but to keep fighting, the official said, even as the economic pain increases. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf echoed the line, warning that “the rules of the game have changed” and any further attack will draw “a faster, heavier and more painful response”.

This is the strategic backdrop against which everything else this week is unfolding — the Berlin summit, the Brent breakout, and the tanker-and-missile exchanges are all happening with Tehran signalling no off-ramp, only escalation.

CENTCOM Destroys Five Iranian Tankers; Iran Fires 20 Missiles at Jordan

US Central Command said late Tuesday it destroyed five IRGC-linked Iranian oil tankers — four in the Gulf of Oman and one near Kharg Island — after Iran struck a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days. Jordan’s army said Wednesday its air defences intercepted 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles overnight, with two landing in unpopulated areas and no casualties. Iranian media claim IRGC Navy strikes on ten additional ships, a claim not independently confirmed.

This marks Jordan’s first direct exposure to cross-border missile fire this cycle — a meaningful widening of the conflict’s geographic footprint beyond the Gulf itself.

UKMTO: Merchant Vessels Disabled Overnight in Northern Gulf

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the Royal Navy’s Bahrain-based shipping reporting cell, said Wednesday morning that unidentified attackers had disabled several merchant vessels in the northern Gulf and Gulf of Oman overnight, and urged crews to transit with caution as damage assessments continue. The advisory follows Iran’s declared Hormuz “restricted zone” and the CENTCOM tanker strikes, raising insurance and P&I exposure for UAE-facing trade routes.

ADNOC in Talks for Stakes in Thailand’s PTT and Nigeria’s Dangote Refineries

ADNOC is in talks with the largest refining companies in Thailand and Africa to acquire equity stakes, Bloomberg reports. The Thai deal would include crude-supply contracts with a PTT unit and access to fuel produced at the facility for onward trading; the Nigerian discussions involve Dangote’s mega-refinery. The move locks in long-term crude placement as Abu Dhabi expands fuel-trading share amid Hormuz volatility — a longer-term confidence signal even as short-term shipping risk peaks.

UAE Deepens Nepal Air Bridge: Fourth Relief Aircraft Lands

The UAE’s fourth humanitarian aircraft under its ongoing air bridge to Nepal arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday, carrying around 38 tonnes of aid including 500 tents. The UAE is running search, rescue and humanitarian operations with Nepali authorities on Sheikh Mohamed’s orders. The operation is part of a broader $10 million mobilisation following deadly floods and landslides.

International Property Show 2026 Wraps at DWTC

The 22nd International Property Show concludes Wednesday at Dubai World Trade Centre after a three-day run, held in strategic partnership with the Dubai Land Department. It caps a busy stretch of resident-facing convenings following the Dubai Environment Conference and AIM Congress earlier this week.

Watch Tomorrow

• Villa Borsig at 10:00 Berlin time: the Steinmeier-MBZ ceremonial welcome with military honours, followed by bilateral talks and the expected multi-billion-dollar signing ceremony, plus a subsequent Chancellor Merz meeting.

• Brent above $100: whether Thursday’s Asia session sustains the century mark or fades, and whether any fresh Hormuz shipping incident or Saudi energy-facility hit triggers a further leg up.

• Iran retaliation follow-through: further ballistic missile launches, UKMTO advisories on Gulf shipping, and any US Navy response — plus whether Tehran’s “more intense war” rhetoric translates into a concrete next strike.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026 at the National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. Nothing is published that I haven’t personally stood behind.

Share

One change to share before this evening.

Dr Burcu Ozcelik is stranded in Istanbul and cannot get a flight back to London in time for the event. We are very sorry not to have her with us, and we hope to have her on a future Emirates Wire panel.

In her place, we are joined by her RUSI colleague Michael Stephens, and we are extremely grateful to him for stepping in at a few hours’ notice.

Michael is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, where he led the Middle East programme for ten years. He served in the Foreign Office as Senior Analyst for Lebanon and Syria. He is now a Senior Fellow at Global Nation and at RAND, and his consultancy work on security and development across the Middle East and South Asia takes him to the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and the Global Fund. He is a familiar voice on the region for British broadcasters.

The rest of the evening is unchanged. David Waddell of BBC News chairs, and Michael is joined by James Swanston, Barclays’ Middle East and North Africa economist, and the Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden KCB CBE MP, former Deputy Prime Minister.

National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE. Drinks from 6.00 and the discussion begins at 6.45. Free and on the record.

If you cannot be with us in London, we'll livestream on Substack and share the details shortly.

My very best,
Steve

Good morning. Abu Dhabi opens a state visit in Berlin today, straight into the worst 48 hours of the Hormuz naval fight, a Houthi wave on Saudi Arabia and a coordinated Western sanctions move on Israeli settlements. Here’s what you need to know.

MBZ Lands in Berlin as Iran Hits US Ships, Threatens “Economic Warfare”

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan begins a two-day state visit to Germany today, meeting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace and Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the two days. The trip lands on the same day Iran said it fired an advanced missile at US warships and threatened Washington with “economic warfare”.

Expect deliverables on defence, industrial cooperation, hydrogen, AI and the Strategic Dialogue frame. Abu Dhabi’s biggest European bilateral of the month sits in the worst 48 hours of the Hormuz naval fight, and the Berlin readout will have to walk both sides.

Iran’s Tuesday Triple: Missile Claim, Sanctions Threat, Fuel-Price Shock

Iran threatened the United States with “economic warfare” on Tuesday and claimed it had fired an advanced missile at US warships — a claim not yet confirmed by US officials — while moving to hike domestic gasoline prices as Hormuz traffic continued to fall. Tehran has already flagged a new Gulf “exclusion zone” and shipping corridor with a sanctions list for uncoordinated vessels. US officials insist the waterway remains “fully” open despite the falling traffic count.

The second phase now runs across three theatres at once — kinetic (warships), economic (sanctions, exclusion zone) and domestic (Iranian pump prices) — each with direct read-across for UAE cargo, insurance and refinery flows.

Houthis Hit Saudi Arabia in Heaviest Wave Since Yemen Truce Collapsed

The Houthis hit Abha International Airport, King Khalid Air Base at Khamis Mushait, and Aramco facilities at Abha, Najran and Jazan on Tuesday, wounding 73 people including women and children. It was the heaviest Houthi attack since the Yemen truce collapsed in July. The Saudi-led coalition called it a “dangerous escalation” and pledged retaliation.

For UAE-linked energy, aviation and insurance flows, this is the clearest spillover of the Iran conflict into the Gulf’s second-largest economy so far this cycle, and a straight-line risk to Aramco assets, southern-Saudi airspace and Emirati carriers routing through the region.

Brent Nears $100 as War Premium Locks In

Brent crude settled at $97.31 on Monday, up 1.07% on the day, with an intraday high of $98.06 — its highest print since late July. On Tuesday, Brent rose further to $98.35, with an intraday high of $99.46, as the tanker war choked traffic through Hormuz. UAE 24K gold recovered to a range of Dh531.00-534.50/g through Tuesday, up from Monday’s Dh530.00.

Four forces are now pushing crude up at once — the war premium, supply anxiety, the Yemen strike and the Hormuz choke. A run to $100 is genuinely in play.

Abu Dhabi’s Financial Hub Draws 4,700 New Workers Despite the War

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) issued almost 2,000 new licenses and added nearly 5,000 workers in the first half of the year. Active licenses rose to almost 14,000 by the end of June, and assets under management grew 54% from a year earlier. Fund and asset managers based at the hub reached 190, up 23% from H1 2025 — eleven were added in the second quarter alone, the hub’s biggest quarterly increase, and it happened as the Iran war opened. ADGM’s workforce grew to 49,027, up 4,688 since the start of the year and 34% on the same period last year.

ADGM chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi called it evidence of “sustained international confidence in Abu Dhabi as a stable, trusted and globally connected financial hub”. Capital Group, Man Group, Bain Capital and Hillhouse Investment established or expanded their Abu Dhabi presence in H1; Swiss hedge fund ADAPT Investment Managers recently joined Brevan Howard and Rokos in opening offices. Capital and talent keep arriving in Abu Dhabi even as the war headlines pile up. The two stories are running side by side, and this week the money is winning.

Twelve Countries Move to Sanction Israeli Settlement Trade

The UK, France, Canada and nine other governments announced Tuesday they will sanction trade with Israeli West Bank settlements. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed a British trade ban on settlement goods, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris will launch its own process. It is the widest coordinated Western move against settlement trade this cycle.

For Abu Dhabi — currently threading both the Israel-critical and US-cooperative lines — the announcement widens the diplomatic room MBZ’s Berlin readout can use today.

Dubai Land Department Launches AI-Powered Registration Platform

Dubai Land Department has launched the AI-powered “Initial Registration” platform, integrating project registration, real-estate transaction registration and escrow account management. It cuts developer transaction time from 30 minutes to under 5 and reduces manual data entry by up to 80%; more than 1,500 developers will migrate in phases. It’s a substantive digital-government win at a moment when Dubai’s off-plan pipeline is running near 75% of sales — likely a template other Dubai regulators will copy.

Sheikh Hamdan Marks 20 Years Leading Dubai’s Executive Council

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid marked 20 years leading Dubai’s Executive Council this week, a period in which the emirate’s GDP has doubled to Dh937 billion and non-oil foreign trade has passed Dh3 trillion. Separately, six new UAE ambassadors took the oath of office before MBZ at Qasr Al Bahr on Tuesday, with Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed alongside him. Two quiet domestic-continuity moves in a Wednesday brief otherwise dominated by war.

Watch Tomorrow

• The Berlin readout from MBZ-Steinmeier and MBZ-Merz meetings: deliverables on defence, hydrogen, AI, and any Germany-UAE statement on Hormuz freedom of navigation or West Bank sanctions.

• Whether Iran publishes its Hormuz exclusion-zone map and sanctioned-vessel list, and any US, UK, UKMTO or GCAA advisory in response — plus follow-through on the Houthi Saudi Arabia strike.

• Oil settlement Wednesday: whether Brent takes out $99 or $100 after Tuesday’s $99.46 intraday high, and any UAE-flagged tanker rerouting or Aramco statement after the Houthi wave.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · UAE briefing · event tonight at the National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. Nothing is published that I haven’t personally stood behind.

“The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next?” — tonight, London. If you’d value a seat in the room, register for free at events.emirateswire.co.uk

“The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next?” — 9 September, London. If you’d value a seat in the room for this one, register for free at https://events.emirateswire.co.uk/

What to look out for today: Iran’s promised Hormuz restricted-zone declaration and whether it names coordinates or vessels; any pre-summit signals ahead of MBZ’s Wednesday Berlin arrival; and whether Brent holds its $97 handle after Monday’s OPEC+ freeze.

Good morning. Tuesday’s edition lands into the sharpest Hormuz escalation of the second phase and the biggest UAE diplomatic set-piece of the month. Here’s what you need to know.

Iran to Declare Hormuz “Restricted Zone” With Sanctions

Iran said on Monday it will announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf “in the coming days,” with maps of a new shipping corridor through Hormuz — any vessel entering without coordination will be placed on a sanctions list, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said. Trump called the weekend’s attacks a “love tap,” while Vice-President Vance said China is “willing to play ball” on Iran isolation.

This is the most concrete Iranian sovereignty claim over Hormuz since the second phase began — a direct challenge to freedom of navigation with immediate insurance, routing and cost consequences for UAE-linked cargo.

MBZ Begins Germany State Visit Wednesday

WAM confirmed on Monday that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will begin a state visit to Germany on Wednesday, with talks scheduled at Bellevue Palace and Villa Borsig with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday, plus a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The trip is Abu Dhabi’s biggest bilateral set-piece of September, with deliverables expected on defence, industrial cooperation, hydrogen, AI and the German-UAE Strategic Dialogue frame.

For Emirates Wire readers, it’s the counterpoint to the Hormuz war headlines — the UAE working its European track hard the same week the shipping lane is at its most fragile.

UAE’s AI Data-Centre Build-Out Continues Despite Wartime Strikes

State-backed firms in the UAE have continued work on a sprawling AI campus in Abu Dhabi targeting five gigawatts of computing capacity, adding worker-protection measures at the peak of the war rather than pausing the project. Khazna, backed by G42, plans to deliver the first 200 megawatts of that capacity in the fourth quarter. Saudi Arabia’s PIF-backed Humain is pursuing a parallel push, seeking an initial $2.5 billion from local and international investors toward more than six gigawatts of capacity, and says it remains on schedule despite the war.

This is notable given data centres have been repeated wartime targets — Iranian drones struck AWS facilities in the UAE and Bahrain in March, knocking dozens of cloud services offline for roughly 17 hours. It’s a striking counter-narrative to the shipping-lane crisis: Gulf sovereign capital is pressing ahead on its post-oil AI bet even as the physical infrastructure becomes a battlefield target.

Brent Jumps to $97.67 as OPEC+ Freezes October Output

Brent rose to $97.67 on Monday, up 1.45%, with the November contract touching $97.93 intraday. On Sunday, the seven-country OPEC+ subgroup decided to maintain September’s required production into October, closing the pressure valve on an October hike. Spot gold traded down 0.5% at $4,405.47/oz on WAM’s markets desk.

For UAE fiscal and household readers, this is now a Brent-supply-war triple lock at the top of the range, with the next test being how far the Hormuz exclusion-zone story adds to shipping and insurance costs on Tuesday.

UAE Gold Slips to Dh530/g as Global Spot Falls

UAE 24K gold opened on Monday at Dh530.00 a gram, down from Dh533.75 on Sunday, with 22K at Dh491.00 and 21K at Dh470.75. It’s a modest correction after the war-week run-up, but with Hormuz uncertainty and the OPEC+ supply freeze landing in the same session, the trade is unlikely to give back much more before Tuesday’s session tests direction again.

Dubai Environment Conference and AIM Congress Open

The inaugural Dubai Environment Conference and Exhibition (DECE) 2026 opened on Monday at Grand Hyatt Dubai under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, running through 8 September across six themes — Climate Action, Biodiversity, Food Security, Natural Resources, Circular Economy and Environmental AI. Climate Change Minister Dr Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak framed it as anchoring the national sustainability strategy. In parallel, AIM Congress 2026 opened at Dubai World Trade Centre for a three-day run.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG Sweeps Tour of Britain

UAE Team Emirates-XRG closed the Tour of Britain on Sunday with a stage win and the overall general classification. It’s the second high-profile European sporting weekend win for a UAE flag-bearer, following A2RL’s Imola debut — a tidy consumer-side win in a heavy-macro week.

Emirates Cancels Jakarta Rotations on Volcanic Ash

Emirates confirmed the temporary closure of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to volcanic ash, with multiple Dubai-Jakarta rotations cancelled or severely delayed on 6-7 September. That’s on top of the existing Gulf-route mixed picture, with Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia continuing to operate key services with delays and cancellations. Keep the “check before you fly” line active into Tuesday.

Watch Tomorrow

• MBZ’s Berlin arrival Wednesday: any pre-summit UAE-Germany deliverables signalled Tuesday on defence, hydrogen, AI, or the Strategic Dialogue.

• The Iranian Hormuz exclusion-zone map and sanctions list: whether Rezaei publishes coordinates and named vessels, and whether the US, UK, or GCAA/UKMTO issue any advisory in response.

• Brent settlement Tuesday: whether the $97 handle holds after Monday’s move and the OPEC+ October freeze, and any UAE-flagged tanker routing change.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launching 9 September 2026, National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. Nothing is published that I haven’t personally stood behind.

Share The Emirates Wire

“The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next?” — 9 September, London. If you’d value a seat in the room for this one, register for free at https://events.emirateswire.co.uk/

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Good morning. Abu Dhabi kept every diplomatic channel open this weekend while the second-phase US-Iran fight turned into what it now clearly is: a naval war, with tankers and warships as the targets. Here’s what you need to know.

US Strikes Iranian Tankers, Iran Claims Hit on US Carrier

US Central Command said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian missiles targeted US Navy ships. Early Sunday, IRGC Aerospace claimed several ballistic missiles hit a US aircraft carrier and destroyer, saying both suffered damage and withdrew — a claim CENTCOM explicitly disputes, saying instead that both vessels “successfully evaded” the attack with no personnel harmed. Iran separately claimed Sunday to have struck a US drone boat entering Hormuz, which the US dismissed as a “total lie”. UKMTO logged 59 vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the last 48 hours: traffic thinning, but the strait remains open.

The second phase is now clearly a naval fight, and each strike is being followed by a rival claim as fast as it lands. For UAE-linked shipping and freight, a thin-but-open Hormuz is the number that matters most this week.

Eight-Nation Bloc Condemns Katz and Ben-Gvir Over Gaza

Eight foreign ministers — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt — issued a joint statement Sunday condemning Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for advocating the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Ammon News framed the bloc as rejecting attempts to “turn Gaza into a graveyard”.

The timing matters: Abu Dhabi is simultaneously calling Trump, Erdoğan and Kuwait’s Amir this same week, holding both an Israel-critical line and a US-cooperative line at once.

War Premium Holds: Brent $96.28, UAE Gold Dh533.75

Brent settled Friday at $96.28, up 0.80% on the day, with an intraday high of $96.57 and a low of $93.15 — its strongest weekly gain since mid-July. UAE 24K gold sat at Dh533.75 a gram on Sunday.

The war premium has settled in for the week, not spiked and receded. ADNOC’s Ruwais restart looks increasingly well-timed.

Hormuz Numbers Don’t Match: Energy Secretary vs. Ship Trackers

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News Sunday that the Navy is actively assuring oil flows through Hormuz, citing a running average of nine million barrels a day via the southern route plus up to five million barrels through pipeline alternatives — and said “just under” 18 million barrels passed through the strait early last week. His figures sit uncomfortably against independent tracking: Kpler recorded just four vessels transiting on Thursday, and the IMF’s PortWatch monitor showed a seven-day average of only four crossings in the week ending 30 August. Separately, CENTCOM said Sunday it redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two as part of blockade enforcement.

The gap between Washington’s barrel counts and what trackers see on the water is becoming its own running story. Wright has a track record: he deleted a false tanker-escort claim back in March. For Emirates Wire readers, this is the number to watch alongside UKMTO’s more modest 59-ship count: Hormuz throughput is now a contested data point, not just a security one.

MBZ’s Diplomatic Blitz: Erdoğan, Kuwait, Trump

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed took a phone call from Turkish President Erdoğan on Thursday, with both leaders stressing the need for “lasting regional peace”. On Friday, MBZ sent a written message to Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. That’s on top of last Thursday’s call with President Trump.

Abu Dhabi signalled to Ankara, Kuwait City and Washington in the same week that it wants a de-escalation track without breaking any existing alliance. The tempo is the story.

UAE Aviation: Second Week of Gulf-Route Friction

Emirates, Etihad and flydubai continued operating key regional services Sunday, but delays and cancellations persisted across Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports. No airspace has closed, but the friction is now into its second week, and Indonesia-linked routes are also seeing disruption. Check before you fly this week.

A2RL’s European Debut at Imola

Abu Dhabi’s Autonomous Racing League made its first international appearance Saturday at Italy’s Imola Circuit as part of the ACI Racing Weekend. Up to five teams — including TUM, PoliMOVE, Unimore, Kinetiz and Constructor — competed in what A2RL calls the world’s first multi-car autonomous-race format in Europe. A soft-power win landing cleanly alongside every hard-power headline this week.

Dubai Property and Green Building Weekend

The International Real Estate Expo ran Saturday and Sunday at Anantara Downtown Dubai. Separately, Emirates Green Building Council convened industry leaders and students for a World Green Building Week event spotlighting female leadership and low-carbon construction. Dubai’s property rhythm keeps humming even as war headlines dominate the wires.

Watch Tomorrow

• Whether CENTCOM’s “evaded” account or IRGC’s “damaged and withdrew” claim holds up as more detail emerges, and whether either side escalates further on Monday.

• Any GCAA, DXB Media Office, or ADNOC advisory as Hormuz traffic and tanker strikes move insurance and routing decisions.

• Whether Brent holds above $95–96 into a full trading week, and whether any OPEC/Gulf producer signals a supply response.

• Whether independent trackers (Kpler, PortWatch) and US officials reconcile their Hormuz throughput figures, or the gap widens further.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · UAE briefing · event at the National Liberal Club, London, 9 September 2026
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don’t publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

“The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next?” — 9 September, London. If you’d value a seat in the room for this one, register for free at events.emirateswire.co.uk

Share The Emirates Wire

A country most Britons still file under “somewhere warm, somewhere Manchester City belong to” is now doing something the rest of us are only writing white papers about. This week an Abu Dhabi cabinet approved artificial intelligence lessons for every schoolchild in the country. It trained 22,000 teachers to deliver them. It installed 32 AI advisers to sit alongside ministers around the cabinet table. And it quietly let Bloomberg know that the state’s flagship AI company might sell a majority stake to American owners. In the same week, Britain’s cloud strategy slipped again.

The UAE has spent a decade converting oil into compute, and is now converting compute into something closer to policy influence. The story is more interesting, and less flattering to the incumbents, than the London consensus tends to assume.

The ten-year build

The date that matters is 19 October 2017, when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announced a cabinet reshuffle that included the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. Then the strategy arrived. The strategy, adopted the following year, set eight objectives across resources, transport, tourism, health and cyber. Today it reads like a punch list, not a manifesto.

Two years later, on 16 October 2019, the world’s first graduate-only, research-based AI university was founded in Masdar City. Professor Sir Michael Brady of Oxford was interim president. Professor Eric Xing arrived from Carnegie Mellon a year later. Today, it ranks tenth in the world on CSRankings, the standard computer-science research index. A useful signal, quoted by MBZUAI’s Dezhen Song: more than 40 of the incoming PhD cohort are returning MBZUAI master’s graduates. They had every other option in the world.

Then came the flagship. G42, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, spent its first four years building what many observers assumed would become a Chinese-adjacent regional cloud. Its first serious international headline was the bid to build a COVID-testing laboratory in Masdar in 14 days. BGI would later be added to the US Entity List. That is the seed of everything that followed with Washington.

The pivot Washington bought

Between late 2023 and mid-2024, G42 did something few would have predicted: it changed sides. In careful chronology, chief executive Peng Xiao told the Financial Times in December 2023 that G42 could not work with both the US and China. By February 2024, its $10 billion 42X Fund had divested its Chinese holdings. G42 stripped Huawei kit from its data centres. Then, on 16 April 2024, Microsoft invested $ 1.5 billion in G42, took a board seat, and layered on a $1 billion developer fund. The deal came wrapped in what Microsoft called a “first-of-its-kind intergovernmental assurance agreement” between the US, UAE and G42. In June 2024, a White House official called the arrangement “generally a positive development” because it had severed Huawei ties.

That concession unlocked the last two years. On 15 May 2025, presidents Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Donald Trump unveiled Phase 1 of a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus at Qasr Al Watan. Ten square miles, the largest such campus outside the United States, powered by nuclear, solar and gas, with its compute reserved for American hyperscalers under agreed protocols. Days later, G42 announced Stargate UAE with OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, SoftBank and Cisco: a 1GW cluster, with the first 200MW due online this year, running Nvidia’s newest Blackwell hardware. OpenAI’s framing: this is the first “OpenAI for Countries” deployment, and the UAE will be the first nation to enable ChatGPT nationwide.

Washington issued the chip permissions in stages. In October 2025, it approved several billion dollars of Nvidia exports. In November 2025, Commerce authorised roughly 35,000 GB300 chips, worth about $1 billion, to G42 and Saudi Arabia’s Humain. Then, on 10 July 2026, the US moved the UAE into a new country grouping and allowed licence-free exports of advanced computing kit to the UAE government, G42, Core42, and the American giants operating there. Senator Elizabeth Warren dissented on the record, citing the reported purchase of nearly half of Donald Trump’s crypto venture by a party linked to Abu Dhabi. Commerce loosened the controls anyway.

The distinctive part

Others have built sovereign AI stories. The money is startling, but it’s not what makes the UAE version different. The Atlantic Council lists the features as state direction, long-horizon strategy documents, sovereign wealth deployed through national champions, and what it charmingly calls “speedy bureaucracy”. Carnegie: a country that “seeks technological sovereignty but has not achieved independence from foreign technology” and that has used financial commitments as, in the report’s phrase, “geopolitical insurance”.

The first unusual feature is the willingness to choose. Middle powers usually hedge; the UAE, having examined the ledger, picked Washington. Among middle powers pursuing sovereign AI, “some, such as the United Arab Emirates, have picked a side”, in contrast to those trying to build a third way.

The second is the open-weights posture. Falcon, Jais and the K2 Think reasoning models are released as open-weight. K2 Think V2 is a 70-billion-parameter model that runs on Cerebras hardware and reports competitive benchmarks against much larger closed systems. Neither the American frontier labs nor Beijing is heading in that direction. Beijing is now weighing curbs on overseas access to its top models. The three-way asymmetry writes itself: the US restricts who may buy its chips; China is moving to restrict who may use its models; the UAE built a strategy on being permitted to buy the chips and giving the models away.

The third is concentration of authority. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, at last count, chairs G42, MGX, ADQ, IHC, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and ADIA; chairs the AI and Advanced Technology Council; and serves as National Security Adviser. This is why the UAE can move fast. It is also why every Washington memo about doing business with G42 begins by pointing that out.

The trade-offs

Speed and concentration bring their own costs. Human Rights Watch’s 2026 World Report catalogues continuing civil-liberties concerns, and the Emirates’ role in Sudan’s conflict has drawn scrutiny in Washington, including a joint congressional resolution against a $1.2 billion arms sale that the UAE has firmly denied. The chip liberalisation of 10 July 2026 and these Washington debates were running on the same congressional calendar. For the AI story, the relevant question is narrower: whether the same centralised model that enables the speed also concentrates the risk if the technology bends the wrong way.

And there is the sovereignty question that Bloomberg made unignorable this week. On 4 September, Bloomberg reported that G42 was in exploratory talks over selling a majority stake to American buyers, precisely to safeguard chip access beyond the reported April 2027 horizon. A decade of sovereignty-building may end when the national champion sells control to keep buying the chips. That isn’t the sovereignty story the brochures describe. But it’s the one a rational planner probably ends up writing, when the state has no domestic silicon and an American export-control regime overhead.

What Britain might learn

Britain is not Abu Dhabi and could not be if it tried. What travels is the question.

On the numbers, the comparison is uncomfortable. Britain’s flagship national AI supercomputer, Isambard-AI at Bristol, cost £225 million, and the UK’s whole compute commitment to 2030 is £2 billion. Abu Dhabi’s MGX closed a single $49 billion fund in July; a single planned Abu Dhabi campus is 5GW. Britain is buying research capability. The UAE is buying industrial capacity. Different games at different scales.

On the machinery, the contrast is worse. In July 2026, Prime Minister Andy Burnham sacked Liz Kendall, promoted Kanishka Narayan to Minister for AI with a Cabinet seat, and scattered the remaining functions across the Cabinet Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. The National Cloud Strategy slipped to February 2027. It has become genuinely difficult to answer the question “who runs technology policy in Britain today?” without a whiteboard.

Three things Britain could take from the Emirati playbook without adopting its politics.

The first is a planning horizon that outlasts a reshuffle. The UAE’s AI Strategy 2031 was written by one government, executed by the next, and will be judged by the one after. Britain’s has been written twice, restructured once, and is on its third home in four years.

The second is decision-making at the pace of technology. Whatever one thinks of the concentration of Emirati authority, the consequence is a country that convened a US president, signed a $1.4 trillion investment framework, and launched a 5GW campus in eighteen months. Britain took two years to publish an action plan for the AI it already had.

The third is honesty about what sovereignty means in this decade. The Emirati story is that, for anyone who is not the United States or China, sovereignty in AI means negotiating access on terms that keep the compute flowing. It does not mean autarky. It does not mean domestic silicon. It means what Carnegie called managed interdependence — and, if this week’s Bloomberg reporting holds, possibly rather more managing and rather less independence than the strategy documents implied.

For British firms — in health, in financial services, in Arabic-language technology — the practical opportunity looks like this. MGX is investing across Anthropic, xAI, OpenAI and Mistral’s Paris compute campus. Mubadala has run a British portfolio for years. The UAE is pressing for a bilateral CEPA that would go further, potentially including an AI chapter. The instrument for the conversation exists. Britain's strategy for it appears, at the moment, to be under redesign.

Come and argue about it

On Wednesday evening, Emirates Wire is putting the conversation in a room. “The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next?” 9 September, at the National Liberal Club on Whitehall Place. David Waddell of the BBC chairs. Sir Oliver Dowden, until last year Deputy Prime Minister and now Chair of the UK-UAE All-Party Parliamentary Group, joins Barclays’ Middle East economist James Swanston and RUSI’s Dr Burcu Ozcelik. Arrival from six; on the record; free.

The war is the frame. The deeper question sits underneath it. Can a small state that has bet its next decade on American compute, American chips and now, possibly, American ownership of its flagship company hold a strategy together while missiles are being exchanged over the strait its oil sails through? And what does Britain want from any of it, with a trade agreement in hand, a Cabinet AI minister in post and a technology department in three pieces?

Bring the argument.

Details and registration: https://www.emirateswire.co.uk/p/the-three-people-we-are-asking-about

I hope to see some of you there.

— Steve

Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk

AI tools help with research aggregation and early drafting. I check every fact against primary sources, and I read and approve every sentence before it goes out. I don’t publish anything I haven’t personally stood behind.

We have assembled an outstanding panel to look at where the country stands after six extraordinary months and what comes next.

David Waddell chairs. Sir Oliver Dowden brings the diplomacy. Dr Burcu Ozcelik brings the security. James Swanston brings the economics. Here is a little about each of them.

The evening is free and on the record, at the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place. Drinks from 6.00, panel at 6.30. Register at

https://events.emirateswire.co.uk/

The chair: David Waddell

David is a senior business producer and reporter at BBC News, where he produces Business Today and Talking Business. He covered the Gulf flight disruption and the Iran-related energy and shipping tensions of this year’s conflict directly, and interviewed many of the people who matter to the story we are asking on 9 September.

Sir Oliver Dowden KCB CBE MP: the diplomacy

Sir Oliver is Member of Parliament for Hertsmere and Chair of the UAE All-Party Parliamentary Group. Before returning to the backbenches, he was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under Rishi Sunak, with a continuous run inside the Cabinet Office from January 2018 to July 2024. He previously served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. He read law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and came up through the Conservative Research Department and David Cameron’s Downing Street.

His UAE APPG chairmanship keeps him close to the substantive discussion of the UK-UAE relationship. The group’s work through 2025 and 2026 has covered bilateral trade, defence and security cooperation, and what Britain’s Gulf posture looks like once the immediate crisis phase settles.

I am asking him to speak to what has happened diplomatically since 28 February, and to what happens now. What does the UK-UAE relationship look like in a post-conflict Gulf? What has quietly changed inside it. Where does the GCC deal sit in the priorities? And the question I would most like his view on: the political shape of the settlement.

Dr Burcu Ozcelik: the security

Burcu is Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at RUSI. She holds a doctorate in Politics and International Studies from Cambridge, where she also took her MPhil, held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, and taught Conflict, Peacebuilding and the Politics of the Middle East. She worked with UNDP and ran the MENA practice at a London-based advisory before RUSI.

Her recent work on Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Israel gives her a broad regional view for placing the UAE’s story, and her published record makes her one of the sharpest security voices on the region working in the UK.

I am asking her to look at the security picture of what has just happened. What has the conflict revealed about the UAE’s threat picture and its response capabilities? How have relationships with the United States, Israel, and India shifted? Where do the Gulf neighbours stand with each other after the conflict, and where does the settlement leave the deterrent balance? What is she watching for over the next six months?

James Swanston: the economics

James is a Middle East and North Africa Economist in Barclays' EEMEA team, where he joined in March 2026 from Capital Economics. He studied economics at Bath and earned an MSc in Economic History at LSE, where he researched Egypt under IMF programmes. He spent nine years at Capital Economics covering MENA and the wider emerging-market landscape, and was named FocusEconomics’ top forecaster of the year for Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He has done deep-dive work on the debts of Dubai’s government-related entities and on Saudi-UAE tensions.

At Barclays, portfolio managers, sovereign clients, and the media now read his work. The panel questions are the ones he is now paid to look at closely: capital flows, tourism, property, banking, logistics, energy trading, free zones, Gulf risk pricing, balance-sheet effects on Emirati corporates, and policy signalling from the central bank and the Ministry of Finance.

I am asking him to walk the audience through the UAE’s economic terrain since 28 February, and to tell us where the pressure showed, where the resilience showed, and where the numbers surprised him. How does a bank economist read the settlement? And where does he think the UAE will land economically over the next twelve months?

The questions we are asking

The panel will take on the questions I set out to ask: how the UAE has managed pressure and change; what the new alignments look like; and what the settlement means for the UK's shipping, energy, and business relationships with the Gulf.

I look forward to the discussion and to what the audience brings.

The UAE and the Widening Gulf Conflict: What Happens Next? is on 9 September at the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE. Drinks from 6.00, panel at 6.30, close and networking from around 7.55. Free and on the record. Register at

https://events.emirateswire.co.uk/