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July 6, 2026

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A man walks past the flags of the countries attending the Gulf Cooperation Council summit at Bayan palace in Kuwait City on Dec. 5, 2017.

Analysis

How Iran war shaped divergent paths to security among GCC states

The Iran war left the Gulf more fragmented than united, with competing security strategies replacing any prospect of a common regional defense.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Oil drilling near Dakhiliyah in the desert region of Hasakah, Syria, Jan. 25, 2026.

Syria launches gas project with Saudi firm in latest Gulf energy partnership

The project is the latest in a series of Gulf-backed investments aimed at rebuilding Syria's energy sector after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Crude oil tankers, bulk carriers and vessels sit anchored around Qaboos Port on June 22, 2026, in Muscat, Oman.

Oil falls below $71 as US-Iran talks continue, Gulf exports rebound

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an X post on Wednesday that Iran and the United States had made "positive progress."

Latest News

Explainer

Saudi FM concludes China visit amid Trump-MBS friction: What to know

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud before a family photo for the attendees of a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority nations at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on November 20, 2023. The international community must take urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations on Novembe

Saudi Arabia's FM heads to China amid differences with US on Iran war

PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Is the Saudi succession near?

With an ailing king, Saudi Arabia's royal succession comes into focus, as well as the kingdom's forthcoming challenges.

An empty chair representing the Lebanese president is pictured at the opening of the Beiteddine International Festival in Beiteddine, Mount Lebanon, June 26, 2014. The annual entertainment festival takes place in the Ottoman Ruins of the Beiteddine Palace. Lebanese parliamentarians have not elected a new president since former President Michel Suleiman's term ended. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT) - RTR3VYUF

Saudi support shores up talks in Lebanon

Saudi Arabia is overwhelmed with risks on several fronts, which might explain its efforts to promote a Sunni-Shiite and a Christian-Christian dialogue in Lebanon and bring its ally Saad Hariri back to the table.

A Saudi policeman checks the ID card of a driver at a checkpoint in the mostly Shiite Qatif region of Eastern Province on November 25, 2011. Four people have been killed and nine others wounded in an exchange of gunfire between security forces and what the Saudi interior ministry called criminals serving a foreign power in the country's oil-producing Eastern Province. AFP PHOTO/FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudis work together to head off sectarian violence

The November attack against Saudi Shiites in al-Ahsa governorate drew unanimous condemnation from conservative Sunnis and Shiites alike, who are determined to prevent sectarian strife.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (R) meets with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in this handout picture released by the Hezbollah Media office and received by Reuters on December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Hezbollah Media Office/Handout via Reuters (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING O

Hezbollah, Future Movement eye presidency

Hezbollah and the Future Movement have begun a dialogue on filling Lebanon's presidency, offering some reason for hope.

Iran's Ebrahim Sadeghisenjani (L) fights for the ball with Palestine's Rafat Ayyad (C) and Abdallatif Albahdari during their West Asian Championship soccer match in Tehran August 7, 2008. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad (IRAN) - RTR20Q54

Outrage as Palestinian soccer team cancels friendly with Iran

The Palestinian soccer team canceled a friendly match with Iran, sparking online outrage that it was at the instigation of Iran's competitors.

Clerics speak on the campus of the Seminary in Qom, 120 km (75 miles) south of Tehran February 3, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN) - RTXB72L

Qom, Najaf call for improved relations with Saudi Arabia

Prominent religious authorities in both Qom and Najaf have called on political leaders in their countries to improve their relations with Saudi Arabia after the latter took a strict stance against Salafist jihadism.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) arrives with the Islamic republic's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the opening session of a two-day conference on combatting extremism on December 9, 2014 in Tehran. Delegations from 40 countries, including Syria and Iraq, are attending the meetings. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Shiites, Sunnis unite to denounce and condemn extremists

The recent surge of Islamist extremists movements has had a positive effect in uniting Shiite and Sunni clerics, from Tehran to Cairo, to denounce the waves of intolerance and radicalism.

A Shi'ite Houthi rebel walks at a checkpoint in Sanaa December 11, 2014. The Houthis are an armed Shi'ite faction whose fighters had swept down from the north and stunningly captured Sanaa from the army about a month earlier. Their arrival following anti-government protests threatens to further destabilise Yemen, already wracked by political turmoil since the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011. To match Insight YEMEN-HOUTHIS/ REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST TRANSPORT) - RTR4HNFD

Iran's role in Yemen draws Israel, Saudi Arabia closer

The Houthi takeover of the Yemen port city, the tribe's strong ties to Iran and its latest contacts with Palestine Islamic Jihad have both Israel and Saudi Arabia worried.

"The Wall" sculpture by Iranian Parviz Tanavoli is exhibited in Dubai, on April 27, 2008, prior to being auctioned at Christies Middle East next week. The estimated price of the sculpture painting is between $400,000-$600,000 (1,500,000-2,200,000UAE Dirhams). Christie's organisers said that the spring sales is set to offer more than $30,000,000 worth of art, jewellery and watches to Middle East market. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Inside the world of high-end Middle Eastern art sales

Sales of Middle Eastern art at Christie's Dubai are setting records for artists, highlighting the vibrant scene for modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art.

From L-R: The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) Assistant Secretary General Abdullah bin Juma al-Shibli, United Arab Emirates' Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Qatar's Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed Saleh al-Sada, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, Bahrain's Minister of Finance Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed al-Khalifa, Kuwait's Minister of Finance Mustafa al-Shamali and Oman's Oil Minister Mohamed bin Hamad Al Rumhi pose for a group photo during a meeting of Gulf Arab oil ministers in Riyadh Sept

Egypt cautiously accepts reconciliation with Qatar

Egypt has accepted a Gulf initiative launched by Saudi Arabia to achieve reconciliation between Cairo and Doha, with the former stressing that Qatar stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

An employee fills a container with diesel at a gas station in Riyadh December 19, 2012. Saudi Arabia could as early as next year do something it has resisted for decades: raise what is currently the world's lowest price for natural gas, in order to reduce expensive subsidies and curb energy waste. A price hike would be an important economic shift for the country but a difficult one, as it would risk hurting the competitiveness of industries such as petrochemicals. To match Analysis SAUDI-GAS/PRICE REUTERS/F

How will Saudis adapt to low oil prices?

Saudi Arabia will have to rely on its reserves and cut its projects and other aid to cope with falling oil prices, a tall task for a rentier state.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan at Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul November 22, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4F5NS

Erdogan slams US on Syria again, days after Biden visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls US "impertinent" on Syria, says West likes seeing Muslim children die; Israel considers extension of Iran nuclear talks as better than a bad deal.