MUST-READS

• Opinion: A stunning victory with the shield creates an opening for Israel

  The military confrontation between Israel and Iran will doubtless have more rounds. But a rapid move up the escalatory ladder seemed unlikely after Saturday’s night’s “extraordinary feat of military prowess” by Israel, as the senior administration official called it.

• TASI targets 12,320 points after Eid al-Fitr: Analysts

  The Saudi benchmark reached its peak during the month of Ramadan at the level of 12,883 points on March 24, when it closed lower. The market then declined for five consecutive sessions, during which it lost more than 430 points, reaching the 12,401 point-level. TASI then rebounded in the last week of trading before the Eid al-Fitr holiday, recouping around 300 points to hit 12,705 points.

• Saudi Arabia warns of military escalation in region as Iran attacks Israel

  Saudi Arabia expressed its deep concern regarding military escalations in the region and the seriousness of their repercussions, a statement from the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said early on Sunday.

  The Kingdom called on all parties to exercise the “utmost levels” of restraint and spare the region and its people the dangers of wars.

  It also highlighted the need for the UN Security Council to assume its responsibility toward maintaining international peace and security and warned that an escalation of the crisis will have “serious consequences” if it expands.

• Saudi Arabia imposes anti-dumping duties on 7 imports from 10 countries: Report

  Saudi Arabia imposed anti-dumping duties on seven products imported from 10 European and Asian countries, six of which are subject to the unified GCC law to protect the industry from the damage caused by dumped and subsidized imports, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported.   The products included all types of cement, including clinker, from all Iranian companies, with a dumping duty of 67.5%. The duties will be applied for a period of five years ending in June 2025.

• Commentary: Ten Days in April

  “At one point, we knew there were over 100 ballistic missiles in the sky, a very short period of travel time to Israel,” a senior U.S. administration official, speaking not for attribution, told journalists on a call today. “A period of really minutes. And the results of the defenses of course, were unclear, until all was said and done.” “As the results of defenses came in, which is when we knew the preparations and planning had succeeded, there was a bit of a relief,” the official said. “You can imagine those tense moments.”

• Iran declares ‘new equation’ as all eyes on Israel’s next move

  However, the prospect of a regional war is very real, and entirely dependent, informed Iranian sources told Amwaj.media, on Israel’s immediate next steps. More broadly, Iran’s declaration that “the era of strategic patience is over” and that any Israeli assaults will be met with a “direct” response suggests a shift that heightens risks. At the same time, Tehran has also been careful to signal that its newfound assertiveness does not equate to aggression.

• Iraq’s prime minister embarks on first visit to DC

  Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani is set to meet US President Joe Biden for the first time on Apr. 15. The purpose of Sudani’s upcoming trip to Washington is to discuss “common priorities and reinforce the strong bilateral partnership,” according to the White House. The visit signals a mutual readiness to forge a new era of cooperation. Indeed, even though costly and increasingly problematic, the Iraqi prime minister’s openness to negotiate new terms for the US presence gives him an upper hand in drawing conditions agreeable to all sides.

• Iran says it gave warning before attacking Israel. US says that’s not true
  Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said on Sunday that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel, but U.S. officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage.
  Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.
  Most of the drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory, though a young girl was critically injured and there were widespread concerns of further escalation.

• Biden tells Netanyahu US would not take part in Israeli counter strike against Iran
  President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive against Iran, U.S. officials said on Sunday.
  Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night in response to a suspected Israeli attack on Iran's Syria consulate on April 1.
  In a statement issued late on Saturday following the attacks, Biden said he told Netanyahu that Israel had "demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks."

• World Bank sounds alarm on ‘historical reversal’ of development for poorest nations
   Half of the world's 75 poorest countries are experiencing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time this century in a historical reversal of development, the World Bank said in a report on Monday.
  The differential between per capita income growth in the poorest countries and the richest has widened over the past five years, according to the report.
  "For the first time, we see there is no convergence. They're getting poorer," Ayhan Kose, deputy chief economist for the World Bank and one of the report's authors, told Reuters.

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