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Articles by Naser Alsayed
The Iran War and the Gulf’s Clean Energy Ambitions
In mid-July, four and a half months into what has been reported as the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar closed a $5 billion financing package for a 5.2-gigawatt solar plant and a 19-GW-hour battery system, raised from 13 banks across the United Arab Emirates, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Japan. The strait that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil remained shut. Iranian drones were striking energy infrastructure across the region.
A Security Lens for Gulf Water Policy
In 1926, Saudi Arabia’s founding father, King Abdulaziz al-Saud, ordered the importation of two seawater desalination units to meet the needs of hajj and umrah pilgrims. His reasoning was simple: to ensure there was enough water to meet demand. Nearly a century later, this rationale remains a major pillar of modern Gulf water policy.
Striking the Grid: Iran’s Campaign Against Kuwaiti Water
Since mid-July, Iran has repeatedly struck power stations and desalination plants across Kuwait. On July 21, the Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy reported fires at several sites on the fourth consecutive day of attacks. The strikes were retaliation for U.S. bombing of Iranian territory, and Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan were hit as well.
Water and Food Security in a Militarized Gulf
The most immediate discussion surrounding the current U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has centered on missiles, oil markets, liquefied natural gas flows, air defense systems, and the Strait of Hormuz. While these are critical dimensions of the conflict, they also risk obscuring a more consequential question for Gulf societies themselves: What happens if the war begins to disrupt the systems that keep water flowing and food arriving?
A Silent Casualty of War: The Rising Risk of Ecocide in the Gulf
More than 2,500 missiles and drones have been launched across the region since the February 28 onset of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. The escalation has extended beyond military targets to include critical civilian infrastructure across both sides of the Gulf – targeting shipping lanes, oil and gas tankers, and water desalination facilities and raising concerns over potential strikes on civilian nuclear power plants.
The New Gulf IPO Playbook: Sector Diversification and Growing Investor Selectivity
In the third quarter of 2025, capital markets in the Middle East and North Africa raised around $700 million through 11 initial public offerings. Saudi Arabia accounted for eight of these listings and raised $637 million in total, making it the most active IPO market in the region. The top three IPOs in the kingdom alone brought in $514 million and spanned a range of sectors, including real estate, fitness and leisure services, and construction.
Aisha Al-Sarihi - AGSI
Non-Resident Fellow, AGSI; Research Fellow, National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute Aisha Al-Sarihi is a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute and research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. Her areas of research interest include political economy of environmental sustainability, energy policy, renewables, and climate policies, with a focus on the Arab region.
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