Gulf

1. Gulf condemns Israel strikes
2. Mideast airspace shutdowns
3. The stakes for the Gulf
4. US Senate waves in weapons
5. Tokenized flats hot in Dubai
6. Kuwait wades into Egypt

Gallium, Iran, and Turkish energy finds in our weekend reads.

Israel strikes Iran, Gulf urges calm

Israel decapitated Iran’s military leadership, launching air strikes on nuclear facilities and ballistic missile bases intended to end Tehran’s atomic weapons program. Gulf countries condemned the attack: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister held calls with counterparts in Iran, Jordan, and Egypt to avoid a wider flare-up, while the UAE urged “the utmost self-restraint” and called on the UN Security Council to take measures to “achieve a ceasefire.” Oil at one point spiked more than 10%.

The region was bracing for action as the 60-day deadline that US President Donald Trump placed on nuclear talks with Iran passed on Thursday. Trump told Fox News he hoped talks would resume but notably, the Israeli strikes were carried out absent American support.

While the official Gulf response was to de-escalate, many people in the region rejoiced given Iran’s role in propping up proxies that killed thousands and destabilized Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. A prominent Emirati analyst posted: “Best Friday and Shabbat ever. This feels like an early Christmas.” Memes of celebration, handing out sweets, and taunts from a Shiite cleric who had forewarned last year that the strike was coming spread on Arabic social media.

Middle East air traffic disrupted

Gulf airlines were among several global carriers to cancel dozens of flights following the closure of airspace over Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Syria. Flights to those countries were halted, causing delays and forcing rerouting. Jordan’s military said it intercepted drones and missiles in its airspace after Iran vowed to respond to Israel’s strikes.

Aviation is a major contributor to the economies of Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai. While direct travel to the affected countries isn’t critical for Gulf carriers, air corridors over Iran, Iraq, and Syria are important to keeping flight times and costs down for routes connecting Asia to Europe and the US.

Analysts see grave risks from Israel strike

Questions over shipping lanes, expanding the Abraham Accords, and nuclear proliferation are set to dominate conversations in the Gulf in the days ahead.

Brent crude remains “well short of crisis levels,” Shalom Lipner, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council pointed out, but analysts say it will spike if shipments are disrupted. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia could be drifting further away from normalizing ties with Israel as the war in Gaza grinds on and a regional conflagration looms. Bloomberg’s Mark Champion argues that while the strikes could delay Iran’s nuclear program by a few years, Tehran will now push to build a “nuclear arsenal as fast as it can.”

US Senate backs Qatar, UAE arms sale

Qatar and the UAE are set to buy defense equipment from General Atomics and Boeing after US lawmakers approved the sales following President Donald Trump’s visit last month. The Senate voted largely along party lines against legislation that would have blocked a $1.9 billion sale of Reaper drones and equipment to Qatar and $1.3 billion in Chinook helicopters to the UAE, Politico reported.

Democrats had backed the effort to stop the sales after Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut forced a vote, alleging corruption in the Trump administration over Qatar’s gift of a $400 million jet to replace Air Force One and a $2 billion deal the Emiratis did with Binance using a Trump-linked cryptocurrency. Republican Jim Risch, the Senate Foreign Relations Chair, argued that the sales support two major US allies.

Speedy sell-out for tokenized property

The time it took for Dubai to sell out its second tokenized real estate project. The emirate’s property regulator, in coordination with its virtual assets authority, has begun divvying up individual apartments into slices, sold as tokens for as little as 2,000 dirhams ($545) on a blockchain-backed platform, as property prices surge in the UAE’s biggest city.

The platform has so far sold two apartments in high-end neighborhoods that have been snapped up quickly. One sale garnered a waiting list of over 10,700 investors, ultimately selling to 149 buyers from 35 different countries. As part of the deal, buyers get professional property management services, a share in monthly rental income, and the option to sell their stakes in an online marketplace.

Egypt sells property to Kuwaiti investors

Egypt plans to raise $1 billion from Kuwaiti investors, using Islamic bonds tied to prime real estate to structure the deal. It’s the latest example of Cairo opting for Gulf support in return for hard assets, rather than receiving financial aid. Last year, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ committed $24 billion for the Ras El Hekma project on the Mediterranean coast, while Saudi Arabia pledged $5 billion for investments that could include a real estate development on the Red Sea. The Kuwait debt deal is part of Cairo’s effort to attract $6.5 billion in new investment from the country over the next 18 months.

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Economy

• Several Asian companies are in talks to list on the Saudi stock exchange. The interest follows a recent GCC–ASEAN summit and reflects growing financial ties. Saudi ETFs already trade in Hong Kong. — Reuters
• Saudi Arabia’s economy grew 3.4% in the first quarter, slightly ahead of IMF projections. The expansion was led by a strong non-oil performance, helping offset a dip in oil output.
• Saudi renewable power and water company ACWA Power secured $533 million for a solar and battery project in Uzbekistan, its second-largest market. The new financing will be used for a 200-megawatt solar plant connected to Central Asia’s biggest battery storage system.

Diplomacy

• The guest list for the G7 summit in Canada next week is shaping up. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has skipped out on international travel in recent years, will not attend. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has been invited and is likely to go. — Reuters, Emirates News Agency

Regulations

• In a move to curb debt dodgers, Kuwait has instituted a mandatory exit permit for expat workers in the private sector, who will need to seek permission from their employer before leaving the country. — Kuwait Times

• The UAE and the US are planning a joint effort to produce gallium, a key element in semiconductor manufacturing. News site AGBI reports on the challenges and feasibility of entering a market currently dominated by China.
• Gulf states and Israel are on opposite sides of the US-Iran nuclear negotiations. The Gulf aims to be at the center of a new regional order, balancing Israel and Iran, Johns Hopkins professor Vali Nasr writes in Foreign Affairs.
• Turkey’s oil and gas finds have accelerated this decade. While Ankara will never rival Gulf exporters, its newfound hydrocarbon riches could transform the economy and reduce reliance on Iran and Russia, energy analyst Robin Mills writes in The National.

The Trump administration is planning to ramp up civil and criminal prosecutions of companies that employ workers without legal status, White House border czar Tom Homan said in an interview with Semafor’s Ben Smith Wednesday.

While companies are growing more worried behind the scenes about the prospect of penalties, Trump on Thursday acknowledged that the crackdown was threatening businesses’ workforce and operations — and suggested he would shield farmers and the hotel industry from the impact.