Sam Dagher

Belated thank you to the @FT for putting “Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria” on the list of best 12 books “shedding light on the conflict in #Syria & its place in the wider power struggles across the Middle East” ft.com/content/d889cf…

The #UAE wanted the #GulfArabs to retaliate together against #Iran's attacks. But #Saudi and #Qatar believed this wasn't their war, and wanted de-escalation. This, by @samdagher and @FionamMacDonald goes into how the war entrenched divisions among the Gulf Arabs.

My analysis of the Lebanon-Israel talks for @CSIS @CSISMidEast. Three different agendas converge in Washington. The strategic key to lasting stability is committing to building a strong Lebanese state. #Lebanon #Israel #UnitedStates #Diplomacy csis.org/analysis/leban…

EXCLUSIVE: The #UAE tried to persuade neighboring states including #SaudiArabia and #Qatar to take part in a coordinated Gulf military response to #Iran’s attacks on them & was left frustrated when they refused, according to people familiar with the matter bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The United Arab Emirates will double its capacity to export crude oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by 2027, as it seeks to reduce reliance on the shipping chokepoint whose closure in the Iran war has upended global markets, Anthony Di Paola reports bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

IMPORTANT: In UN letter #Lebanon says #Iran’s Revolutionary Guards committed "illegal acts in open defiance of decisions by the Lebanese government and of having dragged Lebanon into a devastating war,” and refers to “clear violations committed by the Iranian embassy in Beirut of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations" lorientlejour.com/article/1506737 via @LOrientToday lorientlejour.com/article/1506737 via @LOrientToday

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday added the names of 16 individuals, all Lebanese, as well as five entities operating in Lebanon, including al-Qard al-Hassan (Hezbollah's financial institution), to its terrorism list for their ties to Hezbollah lorientlejour.com/article/1506683 via @LOrientToday

Private market executives, deeply reliant on Middle Eastern sovereign wealth for fundraising, have been anxious to know how much of that money will keep flowing their way as the war in Iran drags on bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

I had a call with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan @MohamedBinZayed, President of the UAE. I condemned the recent strikes from Iran against the UAE. And we must make every effort to truly protect life in the Gulf region, which is of global importance. Against this backdrop, it is critical that our teams continue to work closely together in the area of security. I was glad to hear that Ukrainian expertise is truly helping build reliable protection for lives. We discussed continuing this work. I thanked for His Highness’s assistance in bringing our people back from Russian captivity. We count on this work to continue. We also touched upon joint energy projects. I am grateful to the UAE that our agreements are being implemented on the basis of reciprocity and that Ukraine is also receiving the support it needs, including in the energy sector. We also discussed other potential projects in various areas. Thank you!

“An urgent drive in Beijing to bulk up missile capacity even as Xi purged many of his top generals…just as US stockpiles have been depleted by President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, raising concerns for Taiwan and American allies in the region” #China bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-…

🚩🚩Bloomberg: The UAE attacked Iran not once but twice: both before and after the April 8 ceasefire between the US, Israel and Tehran, including an Israeli-coordinated response to an Iranian strike on the UAE's Borouge petrochemicals facility. News that the UAE has carried out military strikes on Iran was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. @samdagher Fiona McDonald bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NEW: The #UAE attacked #Iran more than once, both before and after the April 8 ceasefire between the US, #Israel and Tehran. One of those was an Israeli-coordinated response to an Iranian strike on the UAE’s Borouge petrochemicals facility last month bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

🚨SECRETARY RUBIO: Every country needs to ask themselves if they are going to normalize a country claiming to control an international waterway. If the answer is no, then they’d better have something more than strongly worded statements to back it up.

IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON SAYS TEHRAN STILL WEIGHING ITS ANSWER TO US PROPOSALS - TASNIM NEWS AGENCY -Reuters News

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would maintain military pressure on Iran and vowed to continue working with the Vatican, capping a two-day trip meant to shore up ties after a recent spat with Pope Leo XIV bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NEW: #Iraq's prime minister-designate Ali Al-Zaidi will present the US with a plan to disarm #Iran's militias in the country. And in #Lebanon President Joseph Aoun said Beirut had "no other options" than to engage with #Israel in US-brokered talks and press on with the disarmament of #Hezbollah. The Iranian regime and its proxies in Iraq and Lebanon are determined to derail these efforts. Iran's so-called axis of resistance has been severely battered but Tehran will do everything to hang on to what remains in both countries bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Iranian leaders like a phrase, attributed to the deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, that “those who wrap themselves in America are naked.” Trump shrugging off renewed Iranian strikes on the U.A.E. this week suggests that Mubarak might have had a point. My analysis. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Humans vote with their feet. There are an estimated 500,000 diaspora Iranians who call the United Arab Emirates home. There are virtually no Emiratis living in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The greatest admirers of revolutionary dictatorships are those who don't live under them.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare phone call this week, underscoring their countries’ deepening relations in the wake of the Iran war bloomberg.com/news/articles/…