The US hopes that talks with Tehran about its nuclear programme will continue, despite Israel's attacks on Iran that have called into question the merit of negotiations.
Following Friday's strikes, Iran said it was withdrawing from the sixth round of nuclear negotiations that were due to take place in Oman on Sunday with US Special Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The talks were supposed to forestall military action against Iran by forcing it to give up all uranium enrichment capabilities and abandon its drive to develop a nuclear weapon. For weeks, US President Donald Trump sounded optimistic that a deal could be achieved, while also threatening dire consequences for Iran if it did not reach an agreement.
Ultimately, Israel rendered those talks moot by launching a “pre-emptive” strike against Iran's military leaders and its nuclear sites.
Despite those actions, Mr Trump insisted Iran possibly has a “second chance” to come to the negotiating table.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian empire. No more death, no more destruction, just do it, before it is too late,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Israel began striking Iranian targets in the early hours of Friday and continued its attacks throughout the day. Iran later responded, unleashing dozens of missiles at Israel.
Israel's strikes were far more extensive than those it conducted against Iran last year, and underscored the country’s growing assertiveness, as well as its military and intelligence capabilities.
Mossad released video that it claims shows its agents deployed in Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran will make Israel regret its attacks.
“The Iranian nation and the country's officials will not remain silent in the face of this crime, and the legitimate and powerful response of the Islamic Republic of Iran will make the enemy regret its foolish act,” Mr Pezeshkian said in a video statement aired on state TV.
Mr Trump later told Reuters that the US still has nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday but that he is not sure if they will take place.
“I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” Mr Trump said, adding he is not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel's strikes.
A US official told The National that Washington is planning for talks to continue.
“We still intend to have talks,” the official said, without specifying when these might occur.
Israel said it struck around 100 targets across Iranian cities on Friday morning, using 200 planes. The attacks caused oil prices to surge and investors to buy safe havens such as gold and US Treasuries.
When asked by NBC News why he thinks Iran would still want to hold talks, Mr Trump said Iranian representatives were calling him to suggest they still wanted a deal.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Iran might continue talks, provided the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is willing to do so.
He “has to make a decision” about how much he wants to respond, Mr Vatanka said.
“If he wants to step down, the obvious thing to do is to go back to the negotiations, to look for a way to either give up enrichment, temporarily or for good, or find a compromise somewhere between,” Mr Vatanka said.
“If you can avoid humiliating Ali Khamenei, if you think … he's going to stay in power, then don't humiliate him. Find a way for him to find it easy to come back and negotiate”.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
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Background: Chemical Weapons
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
MATCH INFO
Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)
Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
