Washington extends ceasefire with Iran until a deal is reached

Good morning, friends. It’s a reasonably quiet morning across the region at midweek, and the big news is (as it has been for nearly two months) in geopolitics:

From the Dept. of Making Up Your Own Offramp: The ceasefire has been extended — and so has Washington’s blockade of Iran’s ports. US President Donald Trump says he extended the ceasefire until “discussions are concluded,” — and Tehran says it never asked for the extension and is once again threatening to break the US blockade by force.

It’s entirely unclear whether Iran (or Israel, for that matter) will also abide by the ceasefire, which an adviser to Iran’s lead negotiator dismissed as insignificant. And the next round of Washington-Tehran talks? It’s anyone’s guess.

It’s a faint ray of hope for the region’s IPO markets. We think they’re largely shut until September, but these things can turn on a dime. The big one to watch is out of long-sleepy Egypt, where the sale of 30% or more of Banque du Caire continues to hold the interest of anchor investors in New York, London, and beyond.

We’re also keeping an eye this morning on the continuing sovereign restructuring in Abu Dhabi — and big Emirati outfits continue to do cross-border M&A despite the war.

Feel free to reply to this email if you have questions, comments, or ideas — we read every email — and we’ll see you back here on Friday to wrap the week together. –Patrick + Salma