Saudi Arabia - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Saudi Arabia cover image

Saudi Arabia

July 6, 2026

Riyadh 8:31 pm

37°C

Oil tankers and cargo vessels are anchored off the coast of Oman after being stranded for days as congestion at Port Sultan Qaboos has prevented them from docking on June 23, 2026 in Muscat, Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for the region's oil and gas, was effectively blockaded since the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran in late February. This week's provisional peace deal between the countries was meant to reopen the waterway to shipping traffic, but the pace of that reo

Oil prices ease as OPEC+ increases production, Hormuz traffic rebounds

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.15% to $71.87 a barrel as of 8:07 a.m. EDT after dropping as low as $71.09 earlier in the session, its lowest level since before the US-Israel-Iran war began on Feb. 28.

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

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

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem listens to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (R) as they wait for lunch during a break in the Geneva-2 peace talks in Montreux January 22, 2014. Syria's government and opposition, meeting for the first time, angrily spelled out their mutual hostility on Wednesday at a U.N. peace conference where world powers also offered sharply divergent views on forcing out Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX17PZ

Moallem: Aleppo proposal a response to Kerry's call for local cease-fires

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid Moallem said he proposed a plan for ending military operations in Aleppo last week in response to US Secretary of State John Kerry's appeal for a cease-fire there.

Iraq's Vice-President Adil Abdul-Mahdi speaks to reporters at the King Hussein Convention Centre during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East at the Dead Sea May 16, 2009. Hundreds of the world's businessmen gathered on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea to discuss social and political reforms in the world. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji (JORDAN POLITICS) - RTXHOKM

Former Iraq VP: Terrorism, political conflict behind Anbar crisis

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, former Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi speaks about the Anbar crisis, Iranian influence in Iraq and his expectations for the upcoming elections.

US Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns listens during a press conference at the US Department of the Treasury July 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. Officials from the United States and China are meeting to discus the two world powers' relationships during the 5th United States and China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Burns to Al-Monitor: 'No illusions' about nuclear diplomacy with Iran

In an exclusive interview, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns discusses leading the US back channel to Iran, the upcoming Geneva II conference on Syria, the role of secret diplomacy and 32 years in the US foreign service.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) attends a joint conference with Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour in Beirut January 13, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17CRS

Zarif trip to Lebanon includes signal to Saudi Arabia

Iran and Hezbollah's abrupt change toward the formation of a Lebanese government might be part of a regional settlement.

Ahmad Jarba, leader of Syria's opposition National Coalition (L-R), French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attend a news conference at the French foreign ministry during a "Friends of Syria" meeting ahead of Geneva II peace talks, in Paris, January 12, 2014. The "Friends of Syria", an alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries who oppose Syrian President Bashar al-As

The new pulse of Geneva II

The trend in the Geneva II process shifts to cooperation on humanitarian and counterterrorism issues; Erdogan under fire in Turkey.

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud speaks during a news conference with Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, at Foreign Ministry in Islamabad January 7, 2014. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed (PAKISTAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTX1753R

Saudi strategy includes alliance with Pakistan

Saudi Arabia considers Pakistan a pivotal ally, both to contain Iran and to further Riyadh’s leadership bid in the Arab world.

Lakhdar Brahimi (C), the U.N. envoy on Syria, speaks with members of the French delegation prior to a meeting at the United Nations offices in Geneva December 20, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrice Coffrini/Pool (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16PMV

Geneva II must achieve peaceful solution

The Syrian government, the Syrian opposition and the world must take advantage of the opportunities afforded by Geneva II to bring peace to Syria.

Yemen-Saudi love story highlights political tensions

The recent story of a Yemeni man and a Saudi woman who fell in love and fled to Yemen highlights long-standing political and social tensions between their two neighboring states.

Saudi Arabia's Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saoud (R) welcomes French President Francois Hollande (L) at the Saudi Royal palace in Riyadh December 29, 2013. REUTERS/Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTX16WSG

Saudi Arabia, France make their move in Lebanon

Hezbollah reacts to Saudi Arabia providing $3 billion in aid to the Lebanese army to buy French weapons.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks to his plane with Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh January 5, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTX1738Z

The Saudi challenge to US Syria policy

Saudi Arabia proposes a military force to deter Iran and assist rebel forces to overthrow the Syrian government.

Ethiopian migrants walk on the side of a road during their journey from the Red Sea Yemeni town of Medi to Haradh town on the border with Saudi Arabia March 22, 2012. Some 12,000 migrants, mostly from the Horn of Africa, are stranded in Haradh, which they use as a stepping stone to reach Saudi Arabia, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTR2ZPE5

Saudi labor reform opens new opportunities for economy

Recent reforms enacted by the Saudi government aim to crack down on illegal immigrants and curb the use of migrant laborers.

A man gestures as he holds a wounded girl at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs, January 2, 2014. A car bomb killed four people in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold on Thursday, security and medical sources said, the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Shi'ite and Sunni targets in Lebanon. REUTERS/Issam Kobeisi (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX17039

Was Thursday’s Beirut blast linked to Sidon attack?

A security source said that Thursday’s explosion in Beirut may have been prepared in a hurry and may be linked to the attack on a Lebanese army checkpoint in Sidon on Dec. 15, 2013.