Дата публикации: 05-08-2026 18:38:43

Markets eye Hormuz breakthrough
Welcome back to AL-MONITOR Business & Tech.The Trump administration has signaled this week that a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz will be announced as soon as Wednesday. Separately, Iran said on Wednesday that a bilateral deal with Oman on the strait's management was in its final drafting stage. Oil rose slightly at the prospect of an Omani-Iranian deal amid fear that Tehran might end up becoming the new custodian of the waterway.Sign up for weekly updates here.Thanks for reading,Jack (@jackvdutton)Hormuz deal edges closer A vessel is anchored off the coast of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates on August 3, 2026. — AFP via Getty ImagesMarkets have been cautiously optimistic after US President Donald Trump suggested that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be announced as early as Wednesday.During his cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that the strait was “going to open very soon,” but warned that if that did not happen, Iran would be hit hard. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that the deal would include “freedom of movement” for ships passing through the strait.In Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters on Wednesday that a bilateral deal between Muscat and Tehran on the strait's management was in its final drafting stage, according to a post on Telegram. Talks between the two countries are “professional” and “forward-moving,” and a deal would be struck “if certain third parties do not obstruct this process,” he said.The deal to manage the strait, which in peacetime saw around a fifth of the world’s oil supply pass through it, would entail a route through the strait outside of the three existing shipping corridors. Reuters reported Tuesday that Iran was seeking a temporary deal with Oman in which Tehran would control inbound traffic to the strait while Muscat would grant exit clearance after notifying Iran.Why it matters: Such a deal without US involvement would give Iran far more control over the strait than before the war, when ships passing through it had full freedom of navigation. The critical waterway, which has been nearly totally closed since the US-Israel-Iran war began on Feb. 28, has been central to the wider talks between the US and Iran to permanently end the conflict and curtail Tehran’s nuclear program.Oil markets have been on edge since the traffic was choked off in the strait, with international crude benchmark Brent crude peaking at nearly $115 in early May. Brent stood at $79.77 per barrel as of 10:23 a.m. EDT Wednesday, a 0.52% rise from the previous day.Red Sea tensions deepenVessels transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of southern Yemen on July 25, 2026. — Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty ImagesIran said on Wednesday that it had reached an understanding with Oman on a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, but hopes arrive alongside fresh escalations by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.Widening campaign: Earlier on Wednesday, the Iran-backed Houthis announced they were widening their campaign against Saudi shipping to northern waters, claiming an attack against a tanker near the Red Sea port of Yanbu. While optimism over the Iran-Oman deal has buoyed hopes that Gulf shipping could soon resume, the potential expansion of the Houthi campaign raises the prospect that the region's two critical energy chokepoints could soon be heading in opposite directions.Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced Wednesday that the group would expand attacks against Saudi oil tankers into the northern Red Sea, saying the movement had targeted the Saudi tanker Wafaa off Yanbu with ballistic missiles. It was not immediately clear whether the strike was successful.Tankers turning back: The announcement signals that Houthis intend to follow Saudi tankers beyond the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where the group has concentrated its campaign since declaring a maritime blockade against Saudi shipping last month. Saree said the Houthis had now targeted eight Saudi tankers and forced 29 others to turn back, adding that the group's objective was to deny Saudi vessels access to the northern Red Sea "regardless of the consequences."According to Kpler, on Wednesday evening, only eight tankers were broadcasting their position in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while dozens of crude carriers continued sailing between Jeddah, Yanbu and the Suez Canal.Chart of the week A drone strike that set ablaze a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta on July 29 was quickly contained, but the incident could spark problems far harder to resolve. The strike immediately sparked speculation about possible threats to the Suez Canal at a moment when the trade artery’s importance as an energy corridor is growing.Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have forced Saudi Arabia to rely heavily on Red Sea export routes, making the kingdom’s western port of Yanbu a critical node in the global economy. With renewed Houthi pressure impacting Bab el-Mandeb traffic, Saudi crude exports are increasingly transiting Egypt via the Suez Canal and the parallel SUMED pipeline. What we found interesting this weekA Syrian Air passenger jet lands at Aleppo airport on March 18, 2025. — OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty ImagesSyrian Airlines will launch more international routes in August, including resuming links from Damascus to Moscow and Medina in the coming weeks, as the country’s aviation recovery shows continued signs of progress in 2026.Syria’s national airline is scheduled to begin operating direct flights between Damascus and Moscow on Aug. 16, the country’s news agency, SANA, reported on Tuesday. Syria's flag carrier is also set to relaunch direct Damascus-Medina flights on Aug. 11, with weekly service every Tuesday.The routes to Russia and Saudi Arabia will add to a growing list of new and restored flights to Syria announced in recent months. In July, Syrian Airlines also resumed flights between Damascus and Amsterdam, becoming the carrier's first restored destination to Western Europe since services to the continent were suspended during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.  Also on our radarThe FIFA logo is seen at the organization's Africa regional office in Sale on Aug. 5, 2026. — Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP via Getty Images⚽ President Gianni Infantino will hold a crisis meeting with top FIFA officials in Morocco on Wednesday as he looks to shore up his position in the wake of the collapse of his gambit to sell off commercial rights to the World Cup. 📉Saudi Arabia’s economy contracted by 4.8% in the second quarter due to the five-month war in Iran and the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the kingdom's biggest yearly economic contraction since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 🎙️In case you missed it: Yemeni Vice President Sultan Ali al-Aradah told Al-Monitor that Yemen could achieve its plans to resume oil exports amid the country's escalating war, but said that any US investment must come with security measures due to the threat posed by the Iran-backed Houthis.Top deals💡 Venture capitalUAE mobility startup Moove raises $250 million Series CUAE-based Syrians launch country’s first tourism super appSaudi startup RIME raises more than $2 million seedSaudi enterprise AI startup MOZN secures HUMAIN investmentUAE healthtech Longevium raises $7 millionUAE Web3 startup Bundles launches with $5.5 million pre-seedIsraeli travel fintech Faye raises $50 million Series CIsrael’s Oligo Security raises $60 millionIsraeli cybersecurity firm Zenity raises $125 million Series CIsraeli chip firm Xsight Labs raises $300 million⛓️‍💥M&AEmirates NBD Bank acquires retail arm of HSBC EgyptDeel acquires Israeli deepfake security startup Clarity in $40-50 million deal🌍ExpansionsUAE AI startup Shaffra expands beyond Gulf with Azerbaijan regional HQ💰 Investment & financeEgypt’s Beltone VC divests part of stake in Cairo proptech BirdNestSaudi Bidaya Finance renews $200 million facility with Al Rajhi BankOman raises $52 million in treasury bills issueSaudi’s View United Real Estate rolls out four tranches of $2.6 million sukukKuwait’s Senergy Holding subsidiaries renew credit facilities worth $24.2 millionKuwait International Bank to issue $600 million sukuk🔔IPOQatari dairy producer Dandy prices IPO at $1.37 per share🤝Projects & partnershipsJordan, UAE sign contract for 25MW wind power project in MaanSyria signs deal with Canadian firm to modernize 14 public hospitals™️MiscUAE economy grows by 3% in Q1 2026 driven by non-oil sectorSaudi non-oil sector expands in July as new orders rise: PMIState oil firm Saudi Aramco’s profit jumps 33% on higher oil pricesAbu Dhabi-listed Investcorp Capital’s FY 2026 net profit fallsADX-listed Alpha Dhabi sees net profit surge 48% to $2.7 billionPIF-backed Saudi Reinsurance Company’s Q2 profit more than doubles
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Wed, 08/05/2026 - 14:38



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