The risk in silence: what the Gulf’s IR teams learned from war, volatility and uncertainty

Regional commentators talk about the impact of the US-Israel-Iran war on the region’s listed companies – and their IR teams

It’s hard to imagine a more intense start to the lead role at an IR association than Reza Eftekhari has had as CEO of Dubai-headquartered Meira. Joining the Middle East’s IR association in October last year, he had just a few months of normality before the region – along with its stable, reliable capital markets – were plunged into uncertainty.

‘It’s been an eventful introduction, but in many ways it’s also reinforced exactly why organizations like us exist,’ says Eftekhari. ‘While the circumstances have been challenging, they’ve also accelerated important conversations about resilience, communication and the evolving role of IR.’ In many ways, he says, ‘this has been an invaluable foundation for what comes next.’

Meira covers 10 markets in the region, including Kuwait, home to the oldest stock exchange in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as larger, younger markets like Saudi Arabia. Despite its exchange only launching in 2007, the kingdom’s Tadawul All Share Index market cap had hit $2.7 trn at the end of 2024, representing a 10-year rise of 463 percent, according to S&P Global data, cited by Arab News.

Many of these markets – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE in particular – have marketed themselves heavily on their safety and security, helping them attract capital and talent to the region. All of this came into question at the end of February 2026 when the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, which in turn retaliated against its neighbors and regional allies of the US.