Ever tried hopping a flight from Dubai to Riyadh and felt like your watch was playing tricks on you? Honestly, keeping track of the current time in Middle East regions is a bit like trying to solve a puzzle where the pieces keep moving. Or, more accurately, where some pieces stay exactly the same while others jump around based on the season.
Right now, it's January 2026. If you're standing in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, you’re on Gulf Standard Time (GST). That’s UTC+4. But if you take a short hop over to Riyadh or Doha, you’ve suddenly "gained" an hour because they sit on Arabia Standard Time (AST), which is UTC+3. It’s a small gap, but it’s enough to mess with your meeting schedule if you aren't paying attention.
The Big Three Time Zones You Need to Know
Basically, the Middle East is split into three main slices of time. You've got the Eastern European Time (EET) crowd, the Arabia Standard Time (AST) group, and the Gulf Standard Time (GST) folks.
The AST zone is arguably the heavyweight here. It covers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain. These guys are strictly UTC+3. They don't do Daylight Saving Time (DST). Not ever. The logic is pretty simple: when it's that hot, moving the clocks around doesn't actually save you any usable sunlight. You just end up with a sunset that feels uncomfortably late during the hottest months.
Then you have the Gulf Standard Time (GST) at UTC+4. This is the home of the UAE and Oman. Like their neighbors in Saudi, they stick to one time all year round. If you're doing business in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, you can breathe easy knowing the clock won't suddenly jump on you in the middle of the night.
- UTC+2 (EET): Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine.
- UTC+3 (AST): Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain.
- UTC+3:30 (IRST): Iran (Yes, they have a half-hour offset).
- UTC+4 (GST): UAE and Oman.
The Daylight Saving Drama
This is where the current time in Middle East gets a little messy. While the Gulf stays steady, countries like Egypt and Lebanon have a complicated relationship with their clocks.
In April 2026, Egypt is scheduled to shift its clocks forward to Egypt Daylight Time (UTC+3). They’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with DST for years. It was abolished in 2016, then brought back in 2023 to save energy. It’s a constant debate among locals who’d rather just have a consistent schedule.
Israel and Palestine also play the DST game. In late March 2026, Israel will move to UTC+3 (Israel Summer Time), and Palestine usually follows suit a day or so apart. If you’re crossing between Jerusalem and Amman during these transition weeks, double-check your phone. Sometimes the political borders also mean a "time border" that shifts by an hour.
Why Iran Is the Odd One Out
You’ve probably noticed that Iran’s time looks a bit weird. Iran Standard Time is UTC+3:30. Most of the world works in one-hour increments, but a handful of countries—Iran, India, and Afghanistan among them—prefer the half-hour offset.
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It’s actually based on the meridian that runs through the middle of the country. While it makes total sense geographically, it’s a nightmare for digital calendars. If you’re scheduling a Zoom call between London and Tehran, that extra 30 minutes is the most common reason people show up late.
Dealing with the Friday-Saturday Weekend
Time isn't just about what the clock says; it’s about when people are actually awake and working. For the longest time, the "Middle East weekend" was Friday and Saturday. Friday is the holy day in Islam, so the work week ran Sunday to Thursday.
The UAE changed the game a couple of years ago. They shifted to a Monday-Friday work week to align with global markets, with a half-day on Friday. Most other countries in the region, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, still stick to the Sunday-Thursday grind. So, if you’re trying to catch someone in Riyadh on a Friday afternoon, you’re probably out of luck, regardless of what the current time in Middle East says.
Practical Steps for Staying on Schedule
Don't rely on your "internal clock" when traveling here. The heat and the different weekend structures can throw you off faster than you’d think.
First, manually set your primary world clock to Riyadh (UTC+3) and Dubai (UTC+4). These are the two anchors for most regional travel. If you’re headed to Cairo or Beirut in the spring or fall, Google the specific DST start dates for that year—they change based on government decrees and even religious holidays like Ramadan.
Second, check your flight times twice. Airlines in the region are incredibly punctual, and they always list the local time. A 1:00 AM departure from Doha is AST, but if you're connecting from Muscat, remember you’re moving back an hour.
Lastly, use the "Time and Date" website for specific city-to-city comparisons. It’s the gold standard for navigating the weird half-hour offsets and sudden DST changes that occasionally pop up in Lebanon or Egypt. Being an hour early is fine; being an hour late because you forgot Egypt moved their clocks is a headache you don't need.