The US and Iran have exchanged fresh strikes, escalating tensions across the region as Kuwait said its air defence systems were intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks early on Monday.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted what it described as “measured and deliberate” self-defence strikes on Iranian radar and drone command-and-control sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island.

The strikes, CENTCOM said, were launched in response to what it called “aggressive Iranian actions”, including the downing of a US MQ-1 drone operating over international waters.

“US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said in a statement, adding that no US service members were harmed.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that its aerospace force had retaliated by targeting an air base it claimed was used in a US strike on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in southern Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would soon decide on a proposed extension to the ceasefire agreement announced in early April, which was intended to provide negotiators with more time to pursue a longer-term resolution to tensions centred on Iran’s nuclear programme.

The flare-up came as Kuwait’s armed forces said their air defence systems were actively intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks.

Authorities said explosions heard across the country were the result of successful interceptions, with warning sirens activated in multiple areas.

No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

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Saudi Arabia has officially begun issuing Umrah visas for the new season, marking the start of preparations for millions of pilgrims planning to visit the holy cities.

The issuance of visas commenced on Sunday, Dhul Hijjah 14, corresponding to May 31, as the kingdom launched the new Umrah season.

Read more-Saudi announces new Umrah calendar: Visa details, key dates revealed

According to the Umrah season calendar for 1448 AH, recently released by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, pilgrims will be able to enter Makkah and obtain Umrah permits through the Nusuk application starting Monday, June 1, a report by Saudi Gazette said.

Key dates announced for 1448 AH season

The ministry has outlined a schedule covering visa issuance, entry and departure dates for pilgrims. The final day for issuing Umrah visas will be 1 Shawwal 1448 AH, corresponding to March 9, 2027. Pilgrims will be permitted to enter the Kingdom until 15 Shawwal 1448 AH, corresponding to March 23, 2027.

Meanwhile, Shawwal 30, 1448 AH, corresponding to April 7, 2027, has been designated as the final departure date for Umrah pilgrims.

The ministry also called on Umrah service providers and overseas agents to strictly adhere to the approved timetable and comply with all regulations and instructions. Officials said the measures are aimed at ensuring the delivery of high-quality services and a smooth pilgrimage experience throughout the season.

Food continues to arrive on UAE supermarket shelves despite disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, but industry leaders warn that the system keeping products moving is operating under increasing pressure.

Executives across the food, logistics and fresh produce sectors say consumers are unlikely to see widespread shortages in the immediate term.

However, the mechanisms that support the UAE’s heavily import-dependent food ecosystem are being forced to adapt to longer delivery times, mounting freight costs, port congestion and growing pressure on cold-chain infrastructure.

Read more-Strait talk: What the Hormuz crisis means for GCC markets in Q2 2026

The consensus among industry leaders is that the challenge is no longer limited to a single shipping route. Instead, the disruption is creating a cascading series of constraints that stretch from maritime access and port operations to trucking networks, warehousing facilities and retail replenishment cycles.

While alternative routes are helping to maintain supply continuity, executives say they cannot fully replicate the efficiency and capacity of established maritime corridors that have long underpinned Gulf food imports.

Shipping access remains the root cause

According to Sven Tietz, co-founder and CEO at HeadsUp, the most critical bottleneck remains access through the Strait itself.

“The primary bottleneck remains shipping access through the Strait itself. The other constraints are second-order effects downstream of that disruption. If shipping access existed normally, the congestion and inland pressure wouldn’t exist in the same way,” Tietz said.

However, once shipping capacity becomes constrained, the pressure rapidly shifts elsewhere in the supply chain.

“That said, once you accept that maritime access is constrained, the biggest operational bottleneck by far is land transport capacity. Trucks, drivers, and overland corridor throughput are the limiting factor at the moment,” he said.

The sudden shift from maritime transport to greater reliance on land-based logistics has exposed structural limitations that are difficult to address quickly.

“We’ve essentially moved from a scalable maritime logistics system to a much narrower land-based one overnight. Global supply chains are simply not designed to move equivalent food volumes by road at short notice,” Tietz said.

As a result, while shipping access remains the underlying cause of the disruption, much of the day-to-day operational stress is now emerging across inland transport networks.

“So while the root cause is unquestionably shipping access, the day-to-day pain is increasingly showing up in inland logistics capacity,” he said.

Delivery times become less predictable

One of the most immediate consequences of the disruption has been the extension of delivery schedules across multiple food categories.

Industry executives caution that the impact is not uniform. Some products continue to move through supply chains relatively smoothly because importers and distributors entered the disruption with healthy inventory levels already positioned in warehouses.

“It’s difficult to generalise because the impact varies significantly by product category and route. Some products have continued flowing relatively normally because there was stock in warehouses. In those cases, availability has remained stable, even if pricing has moved materially,” Tietz said.

Other product categories are facing simultaneous pressure on both availability and cost.

“Other categories have been affected on both fronts: availability and pricing simultaneously,” he said.

Yet many operators say the greatest challenge is not necessarily longer transit times, but uncertainty.

“In many ways, the bigger issue for operators isn’t even the lead times. It’s the unpredictability,” Tietz said.

Hospitality businesses, restaurants and food retailers can typically adapt to stable conditions, even when costs rise significantly. What becomes more difficult is planning menus, procurement cycles and inventory requirements when product availability and pricing fluctuate continuously.

“Hospitality businesses can adapt to almost any stable environment, even an expensive one. What becomes incredibly difficult is managing operations when you don’t know what’s going to be available tomorrow, next week, or at what price,” he said.

Agility becomes a competitive advantage

The disruption is also accelerating a shift in procurement behaviour across the food sector.

Operators are increasingly seeking alternative suppliers, substitute products and multiple sourcing channels rather than relying on a single supply route.

“That’s why optionality becomes so important during periods like this. Operators need visibility not just on their incumbent supplier, but on the broader landscape of viable alternatives around them,” Tietz said.

He warned that as availability becomes more constrained, businesses will need to become significantly more agile.

“Availability will become more constrained and hand-to-mouth. The ability to quickly identify alternative products, suppliers or routes becomes operationally critical,” he said.

“In our view, operators are going to need to become far more agile and far more comfortable exploring options dynamically, rather than relying on a single fixed supply structure. The businesses that cope best will be the ones with systems and visibility that allow them to pivot quickly as supply conditions change.”

Fresh produce sector faces cold-chain pressures

For fresh fruits and vegetables, maintaining product quality during disruptions is becoming one of the industry’s biggest operational challenges.

Mohammed Alrifai, CEO of NRTC Group, said the most significant pressure point lies in preserving logistics fluidity across increasingly complex supply routes.

“The most critical constraint today lies in end-to-end logistics fluidity, particularly port congestion, vessel schedule reliability, and inland distribution synchronization,” Alrifai said.

“While farm supply remains relatively resilient due to NRTC’s diversified sourcing across more than 50 countries, the pressure points are in transit predictability and cold-chain continuity.”

He noted that maintaining temperature integrity across disrupted routes has become increasingly difficult.

“Maintaining temperature integrity across extended or disrupted routes is increasingly the defining operational challenge,” he said.

Transit times for certain fresh produce categories have already increased by several days depending on origin and routing.

“Transit times have extended variably depending on origin and route, in some cases by several days,” Alrifai said.

“This has a direct impact on highly perishable categories such as berries, leafy greens and stone fruits, where shelf-life compression is more pronounced.”

To reduce losses, companies are relying on pre-conditioning at origin, dynamic rerouting strategies and prioritised customs clearance procedures.

However, executives acknowledge that the margin for error is becoming increasingly narrow.

Perishable foods receive priority

As pressure builds, companies are increasingly prioritising products based on perishability and consumer demand.

“Yes, prioritisation is driven by perishability, nutritional importance and demand elasticity,” Alrifai said.

“Highly perishable, high-turnover items are fast-tracked through air freight or optimised sea routes where feasible, while more durable produce provides buffer stability.”

These decisions are becoming increasingly data-driven as companies weigh transit risk against shelf life and market demand.

“Decisions are data-led, factoring in shelf life, transit risk and market demand to ensure both availability and minimal waste,” he said.

Industry executives say this approach has helped maintain supply continuity even as logistics networks become more strained.

Alternative routes help — but cannot fully replace existing capacity

One of the key questions facing the industry is whether alternative transport corridors can fully offset disruption in traditional shipping lanes.

Most executives say the answer is no, at least in the short term.

“I think the answer depends heavily on timeframe,” Tietz said.

“In the short term, the ability of alternative corridors to fully compensate is probably overstated.”

He pointed to the importance of infrastructure assets such as Jebel Ali.

“Red Sea and overland Saudi corridors, or ports like Fujairah absolutely help, but Jebel Ali is one of the largest and most deeply integrated ports in the world and replacing that kind of throughput and infrastructure is not something that happens quickly,” he said.

“You can reroute some volume, but it’s more like breathing through a straw than restoring normal circulation.”

Alrifai echoed similar concerns.

“Alternative sourcing and rerouting are essential tools, but they come with trade-offs,” he said.

“While they help maintain supply continuity, they can introduce variability in product specifications, longer transit times and higher costs.”

Maintaining freshness under such conditions requires tighter coordination across suppliers, logistics providers and cold-chain operators.

UAE food security remains strong despite risks

Despite current pressures, food industry leaders say the UAE remains among the best-positioned countries globally to manage prolonged supply disruptions.

Mohamed Itani, CEO of United Foods Company, noted that the UAE imports approximately 85 per cent to 90 per cent of its food requirements from international markets, leaving it exposed to maritime disruptions.

“The UAE remains heavily dependent on imported food products, with approximately 85 per cent to 90 per cent of total food consumption sourced internationally,” Itani said.

“A significant proportion of these imports move through Hormuz-linked maritime routes.”

Staple categories including edible oils, cereals, pulses, sugar and fresh vegetables are among the most exposed.

“Poultry, dairy, eggs, meat products and processed foods are also highly exposed because any disruption in shipping routes or freight movement creates ripple effects across the broader food ecosystem,” he said.

However, he stressed that the UAE’s diversified sourcing network provides a significant buffer.

“The UAE has built one of the world’s most diversified food sourcing networks, importing products from India, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, Europe, the US, Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Black Sea region,” Itani said.

At the same time, he acknowledged that sourcing diversification does not eliminate concentration risk within shipping infrastructure.

“This reflects an important distinction: sourcing diversification alone does not eliminate concentration risk if critical logistics infrastructure remains dependent on a limited number of maritime corridors,” he said.

Freight costs and insurance pressures build

Executives say one of the clearest impacts of the disruption is rising logistics costs.

Under prolonged disruption scenarios, freight rates, insurance premiums and rerouting expenses all increase, creating inflationary pressure throughout the food supply chain.

“Freight costs rise sharply, insurance and war-risk premiums increase, rerouting congestion develops, and supply lead times become more volatile,” Itani said.

The impact often appears first in highly perishable categories before spreading across broader food segments.

“Perishable categories are typically affected first, while feed shortages can place additional pressure on livestock and poultry supply chains,” he said.

“Over time, inflation broadens across food categories, retail variety narrows, and strategic reserves face greater replenishment pressure.”

He added that disruptions are affecting more than just food products themselves.

“With this crisis, we understand even the packaging materials and raw materials are playing a significant role apart from the food security challenges on hand,” he said.

A structural shift in food supply thinking

Beyond the immediate disruption, industry leaders believe the crisis may trigger lasting changes in how governments and businesses approach food security.

“Yes, I think so. I think we’re witnessing the beginning of a long-term shift in thinking about food routes, food sovereignty and procurement psychology,” Tietz said.

Part of that shift will involve building greater routing resilience through diversified logistics corridors.

“Routes and corridors will be diversified to reduce dependency on a single chokepoint,” he said.

“The pathways products travel will likely become more diversified over time.”

Food sovereignty is also expected to receive greater attention.

“Events like this force governments and regional leadership to confront how dependent the Gulf remains on imported food supply,” Tietz said.

He pointed to Qatar’s response during the regional blockade as an example.

“A good example from the Qatar blockade is the Baladna Dairy Project. Qatar responded by rapidly investing in local dairy supply capability, including the creation of Baladna, which flew thousands of dairy cattle into the country to establish domestic dairy production from scratch,” he said.

The final shift, executives say, will be behavioural.

“I think these events are changing procurement psychology permanently,” Tietz said.

“Operators are becoming less comfortable relying too heavily on one supplier, one route, or one system. Increasingly, resilience and optionality are becoming part of procurement strategy itself.”

For now, food continues to reach UAE shelves. But behind that continuity, industry leaders say a vast logistics network is absorbing growing pressure. As shipping routes face disruption, ports juggle congestion, and inland distribution networks stretch to accommodate new realities, the system is proving resilient, though not without cost.

When AC Milan opened Casa Milan Dubai in 2023, it became the first Italian football club, and one of only a handful of global football brands, to establish a dedicated regional office in the Middle East. For regional director Greta Nardeschi, that distinction is more than a footnote. It signals a fundamental shift in how one of the sport’s most storied clubs sees the MENA region: not as a seasonal commercial stop, but as a permanent strategic home.

Here, Nardeschi outlines how AC Milan is leveraging Dubai’s unrivalled connectivity to build a year-round platform spanning sponsorship, youth academies, women’s sport and cultural partnerships, from the Gulf to North Africa, and why she believes local presence, not global scale, is what will define football’s next era of growth.

AC Milan became the first Serie A club to open a regional office outside Italy, choosing Dubai in 2023. Why was this market important enough to warrant a physical presence rather than managing the region remotely?

The decision was very deliberate. The Middle East is not a market you can truly understand or serve remotely. Relationships matter here, trust matters here, and the best opportunities are built through consistency, permanent presence and long-term commitment.

Dubai gave us the right platform for that. It is one of the world’s great international business hubs, it connects Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Africa, and it reflects many of the same qualities we associate with AC Milan: ambition, elegance, innovation and global relevance. Casa Milan Dubai allowed us to be closer to our fans, closer to our partners and closer to the institutions shaping the future of sport in the region.

The office carries a deep meaning. It says that AC Milan is not coming to the region only for a match, a tour or a one-off commercial opportunity. We are here every day, listening, learning and building. That is why we were proud to be the first Italian football club to open a dedicated office in the MENA region, and one of a very small number of international football brands to do so at all.

This market is also home to our principal partner, Emirates, and to one of the most passionate and fast-growing football audiences in the world. It is a region where AC Milan feels a natural cultural connection: Italian and Arab cultures share a deep appreciation for family, heritage, hospitality, style, excellence and, of course, football.

Strategically, Dubai gives us a true regional hub, a place that is always connected, always active, and able to open doors across the wider Middle East and beyond. From the dynamism of the UAE to the inspiration and scale of Saudi Arabia, the passion of Egypt’s football fandom, and the growing opportunities in Bahrain and Oman, this market allows us to build relationships in a more authentic and consistent way. We chose to be present, not just visible.

How much of your Middle East strategy is driven by commercial opportunity versus building long-term sporting and grassroots connections with local communities?

The honest answer is that it has to be both and, more importantly, the two must reinforce each other.

Commercial growth matters. It allows us to invest properly, activate with quality, and bring the best of AC Milan to the region. But if a partnership is only a logo, it will not last. In this part of the world, the most valuable partnerships are the ones that create genuine local relevance: for families, young players, women in sport, entrepreneurs, fans, institutions, education, tourism and destinations.

Our regional strategy is built around three pillars: commercial and institutional partnerships, brand and cultural visibility, and grassroots development. That means working with premium regional brands, but also investing in youth, local talent and purpose-driven initiatives.

We already have tangible examples of this approach. Since our inception, from our collaboration with the first Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja to our four academies across the GCC connecting us with young players and families at community level. In Saudi Arabia, our collaboration with Visa supported a women’s football and empowerment initiative featuring Nadia Nadim. During the Supercoppa in Riyadh, we worked with local artists and Saudi fashion influencers to bring AC Milan colours into the cultural conversation of a traditional Majlis in a way that felt genuinely relevant to the market. In Dubai, to celebrate the club’s 125th anniversary, we lit the city skyline with a spectacular 1,000-drone show, a moment designed not only for visibility, but to connect emotionally with fans and the wider community.

This is the intersection where we believe a modern football club should operate: sport, business, culture, women’s empowerment and local community impact. Today, global scale alone no longer guarantees success. Relevance does. And in the MENA region, relevance is always built locally. That is what we mean by glocalisation, not as a buzzword or a marketing tactic, but as a genuine strategic approach. We do not simply sell partnerships. We build them together.

Your partnership with Emirates has become one of football’s most recognisable sponsorship deals. How has that relationship evolved beyond branding, particularly in helping AC Milan deepen its footprint in the UAE and wider region?

Emirates is much more than a shirt partner for AC Milan. It is one of the most respected and longest-running relationships in world football, and it has become part of our modern identity as a global club. The partnership began in 2007, and over time it has evolved from visibility into shared storytelling, international connectivity and meaningful regional engagement.

What makes the relationship powerful is the alignment of values. Emirates represents excellence, service, ambition and a global mindset. AC Milan represents Italian heritage, performance, style and passion. Together, these values travel naturally across markets.

In the UAE, Emirates has also helped us deepen our credibility because it is a homegrown global brand with extraordinary trust in the region. Our collaboration has supported moments that go beyond the pitch: regional activations, hospitality, partner engagement and landmark visibility. AC Milan’s presence at major UAE moments, from Expo 2020 Dubai to the Dubai World Cup 2024 and DP World Tour 2025, helped us connect with fans and business communities in a way that is locally relevant.

The opening of Casa Milan Dubai further strengthened that dynamic. When you have a long-standing partner like Emirates, and then you create a permanent local base, you move from sponsorship to ecosystem-building. That is the future of football partnerships: not just brand exposure, but platforms that connect people, business, culture and community. You can see that in campaigns like Travel Talks and ICE, where the story is not simply about a logo on a shirt, it is about connecting people, cultures and destinations through two brands that both represent excellence and international reach.

More global football clubs are aggressively targeting the Gulf. What makes AC Milan’s Middle East strategy materially different from competitors that may only engage with the region periodically?

The key difference is permanence. Many clubs come to the Gulf when there is a tour, a match, a commercial roadshow or a short-term opportunity. We respect that, the region is important for global football, but AC Milan’s approach is not episodic. We have built a regional home.

Casa Milan Dubai gives us a year-round presence. It allows us to speak to partners continuously, support academies properly, understand local calendars, work with institutions, and build activations that fit the culture of each market. The UAE is not the same as Saudi Arabia; Riyadh is not the same as Jeddah; Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar each have their own dynamics. You only understand those differences if you are present.

The second difference is AC Milan’s brand territory. We are not only a football club. We come from Milan, one of the world’s capitals of fashion, design, business and culture. That gives us permission to operate at the intersection of sport, lifestyle, luxury, entertainment and innovation. We have demonstrated this through fashion-led concepts, premium partner gatherings in Dubai and lifestyle storytelling that connects Milan with the Middle East in ways most football clubs simply cannot.

The third difference is purpose. We want to build programmes that have legacy: academies, coach education, women’s football, community sport, health and performance initiatives, and local content in Arabic. That is a very different mindset from a club that flies in, plays a match and flies out.

The Gulf’s sports economy is expanding rapidly. How do you see the Middle East reshaping the global football business model over the next decade?

The Middle East is already reshaping football. It is no longer just a destination for sponsorship or events, it is becoming a strategic centre of gravity for the global sports economy. The region is investing in infrastructure, talent, fan experiences, media, tourism, women’s sport, esports and major events. That creates a much broader model for what a football club can do and be.

In the UAE, Dubai continues to position itself as a global sports and business hub, with a strong event calendar, world-class connectivity and a sophisticated corporate market. In Saudi Arabia, sport is a central pillar of Vision 2030, and the country will host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. Across the Gulf there is a clear ambition to use sport as a driver of participation, tourism, national pride and economic diversification.

For clubs like AC Milan, this changes the model entirely. The opportunity is not only to sell sponsorship rights, it is to co-create platforms. I think the next decade will see the most successful clubs act more like global sport-and-culture platforms. They will need local teams, local intelligence and local trust. That is exactly why we decided to build from Dubai rather than manage the region from Europe.

Fan engagement today goes far beyond match screenings and merchandise. How is AC Milan using digital platforms, creator partnerships, gaming or localised content to connect with younger fans across the Middle East?

Younger fans do not experience football only through 90 minutes. They discover clubs through short-form content, fashion, music, gaming, creators, lifestyle moments and values. So our role is to make AC Milan feel close to them, even if they live thousands of kilometres from San Siro.

We are doing this in several ways. First, through localised storytelling — Arabic-first and regionally relevant content is a priority, because we know the fanbase is young, digitally active and highly engaged with global sport and culture. Second, we create moments that feel native to the region. The 1,000-drone display over Dubai for our 125th anniversary used the city’s skyline as a stage for AC Milan’s symbols — that is not a traditional football activation, it is a cultural and visual moment designed for fans to share.

Third, we work at the intersection of football and lifestyle. AC Milan has genuine credibility in fashion and design because of our Milanese identity. Concepts around limited-edition retail, lifestyle pop-ups and content with local creators allow us to speak to fans who may first connect with the club through style or culture before they ever become matchday supporters.

Fourth, we use real experiences as content engines. Academy sessions, partner events, women’s football initiatives, legends visits and fan activations all become stories that live digitally. The objective is not only reach, it is relevance.

What metrics define success for your Dubai office? What milestones have you hit since launching?

We measure success across several dimensions, because the office was created to build a regional platform, not deliver a single KPI.

Commercially, we look at the quality and value of partnerships, the number of regional and global brands we can engage from the Middle East, and how well those partnerships activate locally. But we also measure fan growth, digital engagement, institutional relationships, academy participation, media visibility and the strength of our local network.

Since launching Casa Milan Dubai, we have achieved several important milestones. We established a permanent regional hub in DIFC; we reinforced relationships with key partners including Emirates, SIRO and CFI; we supported the launch of the AC Milan International Academy in Dubai, Sharjah, Jeddah, Bahrain and soon Abu Dhabi; we have maintained our long-standing academy footprint in Kuwait; and we have used Dubai as a destination for global partner gatherings. We also launched our first women’s initiative in the region, completed over 14 international visits involving legends and club representatives, and we are excited about what the coming year will bring.

We also track qualitative progress. Are we being invited into more strategic conversations? Are regional institutions seeing AC Milan as a serious long-term partner? Are partners asking us to co-create rather than simply buy assets? Are fans seeing AC Milan as present in their market, not just visible on television? Those questions matter just as much as the numbers.

Given ongoing geopolitical uncertainty globally, does having an established base in Dubai offer greater resilience and how are you thinking about long-term expansion from the UAE into the wider MENA region?

Dubai gives us both resilience and reach. It is one of the most connected cities in the world, commercially and geographically, and it provides a stable, international base from which we can engage the wider Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

From Dubai, we can be close to the UAE market while also engaging Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and other territories. But we want to expand in a way that is thoughtful and locally relevant. Our philosophy is presence before promotion: we want to understand each market, identify the right partners, and build programmes that serve local ambitions — not simply extend a regional template.

Dubai will remain our regional home, but the ambition is broader. We are building a MENA platform with local depth, not just regional coverage. That is the kind of expansion that is sustainable — and that is the kind of club AC Milan wants to be in this part of the world.

Read: Sport emerges as a global economic force at WEF Davos 2026

India will cut its export duty on petrol diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the fortnight starting June 1, its government said in a statement on Saturday.

The duty on exports of petrol has been set at 1.5 rupees ($0.0158) per litre while that on diesel has been set at 13.5 rupees per litre, the statement said. Export duties on ATF have been set at 9.5 rupees per litre.

The rates are being revised on a fortnightly basis and are based on the average international prices of crude oil, petrol, diesel and ATF during the period since the last review.

There is no change in the existing excise duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption.