The Iran war is now delivering a massive economic shock to the Gulf, with Qatar…

BREAKING: The Iran war is now delivering a massive economic shock to the Gulf, with Qatar facing an 8.6% GDP contraction in 2026, the sharpest decline among the 6 Gulf economies, against 5.4% for blockaded and sanctioned Iran. Kuwait also expected to contract, per IMF via FT. Both countries have suffered major damage and severe disruptions to their energy infrastructure and export routes, with Qatar forced to halt its LNG production, its main source of revenue and export earnings, because of war damage inflicted by Iran and the difficulty of shipping gas through the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar has slashed government department budgets by up to 30% and cut overseas aid funding by ~85%. That means US ally Qatar is contracting 3.2 percentage points more than Iran, the target of what Trump called the "MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY."