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Saudi Arabia

September 9, 2026

Riyadh 2:54 pm

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Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images

73 wounded in Houthi strike on Saudi Arabia as Riyadh vows response: What to know

The World Health Organization said Monday that at least 728 people have been killed or wounded in Yemen since Aug. 24.

The entrance to the city of Qiddiya, south of the capital Riyadh, April 25, 2019.

Analysis

Iran war tests Gulf's theme park ambitions

Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with multibillion-dollar projects as the conflict disrupts regional tourism and exposes weaknesses in the Gulf states' entertainment strategies.

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

A man walks past a mural depicting oil pumps and the Venezuelan flag, with portraits of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar (L) and former late President Hugo Chavez (R), in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 3, 2026.

Analysis

Could Trump’s oil push in Venezuela upend OPEC’s energy order?

Washington’s growing role in controlling the Latin American country's crude riches could help reshape an energy order centered on OPEC as the Hormuz crisis pressures Gulf exports.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Guests stand at the booth of Saudi artificial intelligence company Humain during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, on Oct. 29, 2025.

Saudi Arabia taps China’s MiniMax for Arabic AI model

The development signals that the kingdom continues deepening AI ties with China while simultaneously pursuing major US technology partnerships, keeping the Gulf state at the center of an intensifying technology race between the superpowers.

Latest News

Saudi oil exports hit nine-year low as tanker attacks threaten recovery

A commercial vessel passes through an international shipping lane off Yemen's Hanish Island in the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan set Mecca Alliance into motion

Mecca Alliance

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

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.

A member of the Saudi border guards force stands guard next to a fence on Saudi Arabia's northern borderline with Iraq July 14, 2014. Three mortar bombs landed inside Saudi Arabia last week close to its northern border with Iraq, where Islamist militants have grabbed land in a lightning advance, officials said. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3YMVB

Islamic State cell strikes Shiites in Saudi Arabia

A deadly attack by an Islamic State cell on Saudi Shiites has upped the ante in the jihadists' threat to the Saudi royal family as the guardians of Islam's most holy sites.

Saudi soldiers stand guard in Jizan on the border with Yemen November 3, 2014. Gains by the Shi'ite Houthi rebel movement in Yemen are ringing alarm bells in Saudi Arabia, concerned for what it means for its vulnerable southern border, already the conduit for a constant flow of illicit activity. Picture taken November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4DNW9

Iran, Saudi Arabia find common ground in Yemen

Despite fears of increasing Riyadh-Tehran rivalry, Yemen's unity government serves the interests of both Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rare public appearance at an Ashoura ceremony in Beirut's southern suburbs November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4COLH

Recent events a good sign for Lebanon

Developments among parties in Lebanon as well as between Iran and the P5+1 might ultimately lead to solutions to Lebanon's current political stalemate.

A street vendor chews qat, a mild stimulant, as he sits by his vegetable stall at a market place in the Old Sanaa city March 19, 2014. Qat dominates life in Yemen, where most men spend half the day chewing it, even at work, and experts say it is ravaging Yemen's frail economy and sucking up precious water. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT) - RTR3HSAZ

Development plan needed for peace in Yemen

The Gulf Initiative has failed to bring peace to Yemen, prompting the need for a new initiative that is more realistic and includes a long-term economic and development plan.

Kuwaiti cartoonist battles IS death threats, US bigots

Naif al-Mutawa, creator of comic book series "THE 99," spoke with Al-Monitor about the recent death threat by the Islamic State and how US President Barack Obama's enemies became his.

Muslim pilgrims walk on a bridge as they head to cast stones at pillars symbolizing Satan during the final day of the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina on the third day of Eid al-Adha, near the holy city of Mecca, October 6, 2014. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj pilgrimage by slaughtering sheep, goats, camels and cows to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR4

Turkish politician calls for Vatican-like administration of Mecca

A Turkish parliamentarian calls for a joint Muslim administration in Mecca and Medina, arguing the Saudis have failed to ensure smooth hajj pilgrimage for Muslims.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) looks past his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu during the opening of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 13, 2013. The OIC urged its member states to make generous contributions at this week's main donors conference on Mali to be held in Brussels, which aims to raise funds to repair the damage caused by the war against Islamists in the African country. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo

Slow progress in Saudi-Iranian ties

Although Saudi and Iranian officials have cemented talks in recent months, this is not significant enough to alter ties between the two foes.

Shi'ite Houthi rebels ride a patrol truck in Yareem town of Yemen's central province of Ibb October 22, 2014. Houthi fighters clashed with supporters of the Sunni Muslim Islah party in Yareem, earlier this week, residents and local officials said, raising the spectre of a wider sectarian confrontation in the country, which shares a long border with the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4B6F7

Iran, Saudi Arabia jockey for power in Yemen

Yemen has become a stage for the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia on religious, economic, political and military levels.

An Iraqi Shi'ite youth smokes a water pipe while sitting on a motorcycle in Sadr City in Baghdad April 27, 2014. Iraq is now gripped by its worst violence since the heights of its 2005-2008 sectarian war, and Sunni Islamist insurgents who target Shi'ites have been regaining ground in the country over the past year. But despite the instability, daily life continues in poor Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad such as Al-Fdhiliya and Sadr City - a sprawling slum marred by poor infrastructure and overcrowding. Pi

Yemen’s Houthis draw the attention of Iraqis

The Houthis in Yemen recently made the Iraqi headlines, as some consider that there are measures to direct the media toward the support of Shiite parties outside Iraq after internal failures.

A protester holds up a picture of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a rally at the coastal town of Qatif, against Sheikh Nimr's arrest July 8, 2012. Sheikh Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric who was wanted by the police, was detained in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province on Sunday over calls for more rights for the minority Muslim sect in the Sunni monarchy, his brother and an activist said. REUTERS/Stringer (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST RELIGION POLITICS) - RTR34QU8

Iran officials condemn death sentence of Saudi cleric

The death sentence of prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and anti- government protest leader Nimr al-Nimr has been widely condemned by Iranian officials and the country's media organizations.

$A policeman carries his weapon as he mans a checkpoint in Sanaa September 25, 2014. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has warned Yemenis their country is heading towards civil war after the takeover of the capital by Shi'ite Muslim rebels, a move that has allowed the insurgents to dictate terms to a weakened, fractured government. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CRIME LAW) - RTR47NQU$

Common enemy brings Iran, Saudi Arabia closer

Relations between Saudi Arabia and the Shiite movements in Yemen, namely the Houthis, have fluctuated over the years but may turn into a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement as a common enemy threatens both sides.