Gulf

1. Gulf-Iran to discuss Hormuz
2. UAE ups hedge fund stakes
3. Anthropic flags UAE misuse
4. Saudi’s Michelin efforts
5. Algeria-UAE, no surprise

The Week Ahead: Major finance, tourism, and travel events return to the Gulf.

Gulf-Iran to discuss Hormuz

The gradual escalation between the US and Iran since the breakdown of the “Versailles Agreement” in June has sent oil above $100 a barrel this week and ignited fronts from Bab el-Mandeb to Lebanon and the Gulf. On Monday, Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in Salalah, Oman, the Financial Times reported, in a push for a temporary arrangement to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal would route vessels into the strait through Iranian waters and out through Omani territory, though diplomats say reopening it fully still requires a US-Iran deal.

Passage through Hormuz has been an urgent issue since March, but it is gaining importance as Yemen’s Houthis advance along Bab el-Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea. Saudi crude production plunged last month to its lowest level since 1990 as export routes tightened, Bloomberg reported. Oil eased on Friday after an International Energy Agency report warned of weaker demand, but is still up more than 70% this year.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly asked US President Donald Trump to strike the Houthis but Washington declined, according to Axios. Around 200 US military advisers are helping Saudi forces with intelligence and targeting as the kingdom tries to slow the Iran-backed group’s advance, CNN reported.

UAE ups hedge fund stakes

The Gulf’s largest sovereign wealth fund is making a bigger push into alternative assets and private markets, targeting tens of billions of additional dollars into buyouts and hedge funds. In its 2025 review, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) said the fund increased its private equity investments target to up to one-fifth of the fund, from 12%–17% a year earlier; financial alternatives such as hedge funds increased to up to 12%, from 5%–10% previously.

ADIA, which rarely makes public disclosures of its holdings, invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government outside the Middle East, with assets estimated at around $1.1 trillion. Even a single-percentage shift in strategy represents around $11 billion. Check size for ADIA private equity deals had a median of $150 million each since 2020, according to PitchBook.

Anthropic flags UAE misuse

Anthropic said in a report that a UAE-linked influence operation used Claude AI to target the Muslim Brotherhood. The operation used around 300 fake social-media accounts, created a front NGO, ghost-wrote testimony to be used at the UN, and compiled files on European lawmakers, journalists, and UN officials. The company traced the campaign “with high confidence to UAE government officials.” The UAE Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Abu Dhabi has designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization since 2014 and made countering political Islam a pillar of its regional policy. The US considers the Brotherhood’s Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, and Sudanese branches as terrorist organizations.

The campaign was far from the report’s most troubling example of AI misuse. Anthropic also uncovered Russian cyber attacks, Chinese surveillance of Uyghurs, and Yemeni-developed software for armed drones, bombs, missiles, and other weapons.

— Mohammed Sergie

Saudi’s Michelin efforts

Saudi Arabia’s efforts to win the country’s first Michelin Star and become a top culinary destination have fallen short. Riyadh’s Vision 2030 plan named food, sports, and gigaprojects as key soft-power tools, bankrolling restaurants and recruiting big-name chefs. But while Michelin launched a Saudi guide this year, it awarded no stars, and a spate of high-end eateries have closed, citing a shortage of tourists.

The plan faced structural problems, a chef wrote in The New Yorker: Saudis see cooking as low-status work. One foreign executive overseeing the project didn’t know what Saudi food was, citing hummus — not Saudi — as his favorite example. The meals that stood out to the writer were cheaper and more local, such as jareesh with black lime (a savory porridge-like dish) and dark chocolate kunafa.

View: Algiers cuts ties, Abu Dhabi shrugs

Algiers severed diplomatic relations with the UAE and closed its airspace to Emirati aircraft on Thursday. It was no surprise to those who had watched relations between the two countries deteriorate, Tareq Alotaiba, a former Emirati official, writes in a Semafor column.

“The UAE and Algeria have never been close. Abu Dhabi supports Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and opened a consulate there in 2020, while Algeria supports the territory’s independence,” Alotaiba wrote. “The grievances extend to what Algeria cites as Emirati support for Khalifa Haftar in Libya (where Algeria backs the government in Tripoli) and Emirati involvement in the Sahel, both regions Algiers considers its own sphere.”

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• Sept. 13: The eighth Crown Prince Camel Festival concludes at the Taif Camel Racing Track.
• Sept. 14-16: Money 20/20 Middle East returns to the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Center in Malham.
• Sept. 14-17: Arabian Travel Market, postponed twice from its usual May slot, runs at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
• Sept. 15-16: The US Federal Reserve meets on interest rates; Gulf central banks typically move within hours given their dollar pegs.