Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast’s longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the U.S., has died. He was 79.

The state-run Oman News Agency announced his death early Saturday on its official Twitter account. The sultan was believed to have been in poor health and traveled to Belgium for what the court described as a medical checkup last month. The royal court declared three days of mourning.

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Ukrainian airliner was on fire immediately before it crashed southwest of Tehran killing all 176 on board, according to an initial report by Iranian investigators.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said on Thursday its investigators wanted to search the crash site for possible Russian missile debris.

The Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800, flying to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed shortly after taking off on Wednesday from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirate (AP) — U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf have loudly pushed for hawkish policies by Washington to pressure, isolate and cripple Iran, but this high-stakes strategy is now being put to the test by the unexpected U.S. strike that killed Iran’s most powerful military commander last week, thrusting the region closer to full-blown conflict.

Even as Gulf Arab states — like Israel — lobbied hard for tough U.S. sanctions and maximum pressure on Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have wanted to avoid outright war.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco shares fell to a new low on Wednesday after Iran launched missiles against U.S. targets in Iraq, but Gulf debt markets were fairly stable, as some had feared stronger retaliation from Iran.

Saudi Aramco opened at 34 riyals ($9.06), its lowest since it began trading on Dec. 11, putting the market value of the company at around $1.8 billion, down from a peak of $2.06 trillion on Dec 12.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed earlier on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

DUBAI/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Dozens of people were killed in a stampede as mourners packed streets for the funeral of a slain Iranian military commander in his hometown on Tuesday, forcing his burial to be postponed, state-affiliated media reported.

Tens of thousands of people had gathered in the southeastern city of Kerman to pay tribute to General Qassem Soleimani, whose killing in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Friday plunged the region into a new crisis and raised fears of a broader conflict.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia arrested a man in Qatif, eastern Saudi Arabia, after he opened fire on a security patrol, state-run Al Ekhbariya TV said on Tuesday, adding that he was wanted for robberies on vehicles transporting cash.

The Ekhbariya report described the man as the “most dangerous wanted terrorist”, without providing more details.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) shares briefly hit 34.45 riyals ($9.18) in early trade, their lowest level since its shares began trading on December 11, following a record-setting initial public offering (IPO).

At 0706 GMT, Aramco shares were down 0.14% at 34.50 riyals.

They have lost almost 11% since hitting a high of 38.70 riyals.

The IPO was priced at 32 riyals per share, valuing Aramco at $1.7 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led vast crowds in prayers in Tehran on Monday at the funeral of slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, publicly weeping for the general killed by a U.S. drone strike.

Iranians, who state media said numbered in the millions, poured on to the streets of the Iranian capital to bid farewell to the commander of the Quds Force, the unit in charge of foreign operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran condemned Donald Trump on Sunday as a “terrorist in a suit” after the U.S. president threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites hard if Tehran attacks Americans or U.S. assets in retaliation for the killing of military commander Qassem Soleimani.

As the two countries assailed each other in a war of words, the European Union, Britain and Oman urged the parties to seek to de-escalate the crisis.