Qatar’s foreign minister last month said his country can survive the boycott, but that it is costing “ten times as much” to import goods and continue their dealings. AP Photo / Saurabh Das
Qatar’s foreign minister last month said his country can survive the boycott, but that it is costing “ten times as much” to import goods and continue their dealings. AP Photo / Saurabh Das
Qatar’s foreign minister last month said his country can survive the boycott, but that it is costing “ten times as much” to import goods and continue their dealings. AP Photo / Saurabh Das
Qatar’s foreign minister last month said his country can survive the boycott, but that it is costing “ten times as much” to import goods and continue their dealings. AP Photo / Saurabh Das

Qatar falls further under Iran's spell with new trade routes


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Qatar is considering opening up trade routes through Iran to bring in Turkish products and circumnavigate a boycott by Arab countries.

Iran and Turkey became the two major suppliers of Qatar’s food imports after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties the Doha government and suspended air, sea and land transport with in June.

The four countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorist groups and attempting to destabilise the region. The quartet also accused Qatar of increasing relations with regional arch rival Iran.

Ministers from Qatar, Turkey and Iran met in Tehran on Saturday to weigh up plans for the expansion of trade and the possibility of shipping Turkish goods to Qatar through Iran, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency said.

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Read our essential backgrounder on the Gulf dispute here: Qatar crisis: What you need to know

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The meeting was attended by Iran’s communications minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, Turkey’s economy minister, Nihat Zeybekci, and Qatar's economy minister, Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.

Qatar has turned to Turkish products to fill what was once provided by Saudi Arabia, largely through it one land border. But the shipments of food and other products has come at significant cost. Iran has also sent shipments of food by sea.

Qatar’s foreign minister last month said his country can survive the boycott, but that it is costing “ten times as much” to import goods and continue their dealings.

Mr Zeybekci said earlier that Iran provides the best route for land transit when it comes to the Turkish exports to Qatar.

"We're thinking about alternatives for land trade routes with Qatar but the easiest way is passing through Iran," Mr Zeybekci told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

The discussion of land routes took place after the ministers attended the oath-taking ceremony of Iran's president-elect Hassan Rouhani on Saturday.

"We want to meet all of Qatar's needs. We want all good providers in Turkey to sell products, including cleaning materials, domestic appliances [...] and textile, in Qatar," Zeybekci stated.

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Trade between Turkey and Qatar increased in June and July, Mr Zeybekci said, adding: "We have to make this increase permanent."

While calling for a negotiated end to the dispute, Turkey has sided with Qatar. Along with helping supply food and other goods, Ankara sped up the deployment of troops to a base in Qatar.

Turkey's exports to Qatar totalled US$52.4 million (Dh192.5m) in June 2017, an increase from $36.2m in May 2017.

Mr Zeybekci said continuing to use cargo planes to carry products was not sustainable.

"We want to make it [transportation] economic, sustainable and reliable," he added.

"Shipment by sea will gain importance. We foresee that at least four large tonnage ships would go to Qatar monthly but the land route is an alternative for carrying flexible and smaller packages," Mr Zeybekci added.

The quartet issued 13 demands with which Qatar must comply before talks to end the dispute get underway. The demands include that Qatar expel Turkish forces and close down the base.

They also include that Qatar shuts down Al Jazeera, which they accuse of providing a platform for extremist groups.

Israel said on Sunday it planned to close Al Jazeera, after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the broadcaster of incitement.

Mr Netanyahu said last week that he wanted Al Jazeera expelled amid tensions over the Al Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem.

"Al Jazeera has become the main tool of Daesh, Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran," communications minister Ayoob Kara, a member of the Druze community from Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, said.

He accused Al Jazeera of "inciting violence which has provoked losses among the best of our sons", referring to two Druze policemen who were killed in a July 14 attack near the Al Aqsa compound.

The communications ministry said that "nearly all countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, have concluded that Al Jazeera incites terrorism and religious extremism."

It had become "ridiculous that the channel continued to broadcast from Israel".

The ministry said it would also demand the revocation of the credentials of journalists working for the channel and cut its cable and satellite connections.

Israeli authorities would also seek to limit access from Israel's Arab citizens to the station's broadcasts in Arabic, the communications ministry statement said.

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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  • Premier League-standard football pitch
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Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

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UAE

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Saudi Arabia

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The Case For Trump

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The%20specs
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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

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2 Kuwaiti teams

Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup 

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

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Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Match info

Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace

Man of the match: Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace)

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While you're here
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4