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Gulf Cooperation Council

Gulf Cooperation Council
The latest news and top stories on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a Riyadh-based intergovernmental political and economic union. The GCC was established in 1981 to foster cooperation, integration and unity among its six Arab member states in the Persian Gulf. Its primary mission encompasses economic integration, including a common market and customs union, alongside significant security and military coordination, notably the Peninsula Shield Force. The GCC also focuses on political alignment, social, cultural and administrative affairs and contributes to international development.
Police officers walk towards the president’s official residence in Islamabad, as Pakistan prepares to host the US and Iran for peace talks on Friday. Photo: Reuters
US, Israel war on Iran

US-Iran talks leave Gulf states on edge about the price of peace

The six GCC nations worry that the US will prioritise Tehran’s needs and leave the Gulf monarchies vulnerable to Iranian retaliation.

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War and conflict

Opinion | China’s role in the Iran-US ceasefire reflects its strategic distance

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China energy security

Strait of Hormuz crisis

Pakistan

What Pakistan gains by playing peacemaker in Iran war

If Islamabad can successfully carry off the talks, it stands a chance of bringing in much-needed investments and weapon sales, analysts say.

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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Army Chief Asim Munir (right) meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on September 26, 2025. Photo: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office/AFP
China-Middle East relations

Opinion | When it comes to the Persian Gulf, China’s top priority is economics

Beijing’s refusal to pick sides between Iran and other Gulf states affirms its strategic positioning rather than a desire to shift paradigms.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | Look East? South Asia’s fate is far more intertwined with Middle East

Beyond oil, remittances and cultural ties, trade and defence pacts in recent years have added to strategic and security interconnectedness.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran war nears 3-front tipping point as Gulf energy hubs burn

Israeli strikes on the world’s largest gas field and Iranian attacks on Saudi and Qatari hubs threaten a global energy crisis.

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Smoke and fire rise near the South Pars gas field following an attack amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
US, Israel war on Iran

‘Severely damaged’: how the US-Israel war on Iran is decoupling Gulf security

As confidence in America’s defence guarantee erodes, Gulf states are now weighing a more multifaceted strategy, analysts say.

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China-Middle East relations

Can China stay friendly with Gulf states and Iran as fighting escalates?

Iranian strikes on neighbouring states in response to US and Israeli attacks highlight how difficult Beijing’s balancing act has become.

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Iran

Why the Iran war marks a turning point for Gulf-Asia trade

The closure of the Middle East’s important straits – Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb – is forcing Gulf and Asian nations to explore other options.

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Oil tanker trucks stand parked near an oil storage terminal in Karachi on Thursday as global energy markets face disruptions amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Photo: AFP
US, Israel war on Iran

No longer safe: Iran war puts 9 million Indian workers in the line of fire

As missiles fly, drone strikes from Dubai to Doha are shattering the illusion of safety for millions of Indian expats living in the Gulf.

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A worker assesses the damage after a drone strike on a building in Dubai’s Creek Harbour neighbourhood on Thursday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP
US, Israel war on Iran

China caught between Iran and Gulf states as Tehran strikes across Middle East

In 2023, China mediated a peace deal between Riyadh and Tehran, but the ties are being tested as Iran targets sites in Saudi Arabia.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | US war on Iran isn’t likely to go as planned

US war planners have overlooked viewing their adversary through realpolitik in the past. They now face a far more organised opponent.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Gulf states take the fight to Iran as missiles target oil, gas and trade

The UAE, Qatar and others had a plan for staying out of a US-Iran war. It relied on the assumption that Iran would leave them out of it too.

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A plume of smoke rises from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong exporters and exhibitors face fallout from US-Israel strikes on Iran

Traders grapple with surging oil and freight costs, while flight disruptions compound challenges for Middle East exhibitors in the city.

Exporters in Hong Kong have been hit by freight delays and surging costs as tensions mount. Photo: Sam Tsang
China-Middle East relations

China and Saudi Arabia pledge deeper hi-tech cooperation despite US pressure

Mohammed bin Salman says the kingdom will work with Beijing in areas ranging from oil to AI to bring ‘greater benefits’ to both countries.

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China-Middle East relations

China’s Wang Yi urges UAE to help close free-trade deal with Gulf states bloc

Chinese foreign minister is on a three-nation Middle East tour and met Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday.

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Middle East

Opinion | Why Gulf region’s dreams of aviation domination are built on sand

While Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul’s plans are already aggressively ambitious, Saudi Arabia’s extravagant vision seems like something from fantasyland.

A plane prepares for take-off at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 05, 2023.
Asean

Opinion | In its year under Malaysia, Asean tried to set systemic reform in motion

Despite grumbles about loss of focus and misgivings about the longevity of new networks, Malaysia, ironically, perhaps didn’t go far enough.

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Israel-Iran conflict

Iran faces ‘no-win situation’ as sanctions, threat of Israeli strikes loom

Any reactivation of UN sanctions could prompt Iran to scrap inspections of its nuclear facilities and monitoring of its uranium stockpile.

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Business of climate change

Hong Kong’s Templewater links Asia’s robust EV growth with Middle East’s clean-energy demand

Private equity firm sees EV and energy-storage opportunities as Middle East shifts away from traditional oil reliance.

(FILES) A Xiaomi SU7 Max car is displayed at the entrance to the Xiaomi EV Factory, where all Xiaomi EV cars are made, in Beijing on July 1, 2025. Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi will remotely fix a flaw in the assisted driving system on over 110,000 of its popular SU7 electric cars, the firm and regulators said on September 19, 2025, months after a deadly crash involving the model. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
Banking & finance

Qatari fund invests US$2 million in CK Asset-backed start-up Nexx

Doha-based Rasmal Ventures, backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, invests US$2 million in Hong Kong’s Nexx.

From left, Nexx Global’s CEO Oscar Hui, chairman Houston Huang and vice-chairman John Chan. Photo: Handout
Middle East

Qatar joins Gulf neighbours in African funding game with US$103 billion pledge

Al-Mansour Holdings is looking to tap into six resource-rich sub-Saharan countries for minerals, oil and gas.

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Asean

Asian Angle | Are migrant workers the real glue cementing Asean-GCC ties?

The surprising truth behind the growing partnership lies in its people-to-people connections, remittances, the haj and financial mobility.

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Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Gulf Cooperation Council and China join hands for a group photo as they meet for a summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27. Photo: Kyodo
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