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Saudi Arabia

September 11, 2026

Riyadh 3:40 am

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The navigation bridge of a sunken vessel is all that is seen at the surface of the water in the Port of Mocha the day after an attack by the Houthis on the city Mocha, held by Yemen's internationally recognized, Aden-based government, on Aug. 10, 2026.

Houthis seize Red Sea city, tighten grip near strategic Bab al-Mandeb: What to know

Taking control of the towns bordering the Bab al-Mandeb Strait deals a significant blow to Saudi Arabia, which has relied heavily on the key waterway to keep its exports afloat.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia’s oil production slumps to lowest in 36 years as war bites

The kingdom reported to OPEC that crude output fell by 1.9 million to 6.238 million barrels per day in August.

Fighters supporting the Aden-based, internationally recognized Yemeni government gather during a vigil along the Red Sea shore in Khokha, in Yemen's western Hodeidah province, on July 20, 2026.

Analysis

How Saudi Arabia seeks to contain Yemen's Houthis without provoking Iran

Riyadh is balancing pressure on the Houthis with efforts to keep Iran from widening the conflict, as attacks threaten Saudi energy exports through the Red Sea.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Brent crude sails past $100 as Middle East war intensifies

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

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

Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran war tests Gulf's theme park ambitions

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

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

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

A child vendor waits for tourists to sell them souvenirs at the Giza Pyramids, on the outskirts of Cairo August 26, 2013. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (EGYPT - Tags: SOCIETY TRAVEL) - RTX12XFC

Gulf Cash Gives Jolt of Life To Egypt's Economy

About $12 billion in aid and bank deposits are helping the Egyptian economy in the short term, but structural reforms are needed to sustain the economy in the long term.

Saudi businesswoman Zizi Badar (L) who runs a beauty company, talks to another woman in a rest room in Jeddah February 11, 2006. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra IMAGES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR ANY USE IN SAUDI ARABIA. Please contact your sales person at http://reut.rs/xwa0Hm for more information - RTR1BRRG

Saudi Women’s Slow Drive to Reform

The attention given to the demands of Saudi women to drive may miss the bigger picture of reform in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf (front, 2nd R) walks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdulatif al-Zayani (front R) to attend a meeting of Gulf Arab monetary and finance officials in Riyadh October 5, 2013. The central bank of Saudi Arabia, one of the world's top holders of U.S. government bonds, said on Saturday it was not worried by the political deadlock in Washington that could cause the United States to default on its debt. The U.S. Congress must agree on a measure

Saudi Arabia Deepens Its Isolation

The kingdom’s rejection of UN Security Council seat does not convey more proactive foreign policy.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal (L) talks with Qatar Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiya following their meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and members of the Arab Peace Initiative at the United States Embassy in Paris, September 8, 2013. REUTERS/Susan Walsh/Pool (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13CWG

Saudi Arabia Shifts to More Activist Foreign Policy Doctrine

The kingdom should give priority to a regional initiative in Syria and a collective security framework for maintaining order in the Arab world.

A weapons dealer checks AK-47 rifles before selling it to smugglers transferring it to Syria, at his house near the city of Mosul, 390km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, February 16, 2012. The weapons dealers sell a rifle for about $1000. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2XY8B

Smugglers Easily Cross Iraq’s Border

Despite the efforts of Iraq and the six countries bordering it, Iraq’s borders are easily navigated by professional smugglers.

Muslim pilgrims pray atop Mount Thor in the holy city of Mecca ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage October 11, 2013. Mount Thor marks the start of the journey of the Prophet Mohammad and his companion Abu Bakr Al-Sadeeq from Mecca to Medina. It houses Thor cave where Prophet Mohammed is believed to have hid from the people of Quraish before his Hijra (migration) to Medina. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX147ME

Sacred Meets Profane During Hajj

Politics and profit mix with spirituality during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) looks past his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu (2nd R) 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

Lebanon Stability Depends On Iran-Saudi Entente

The warming trends in US-Russia and US-Iran ties may or may not benefit Lebanon, unless Iran and Saudi Arabia end their sectarian regional policies.

The Saudi Duality on Women

An unknown Saudi cleric goes viral following his comments on why women can’t drive.

Yemen’s Brotherhood: Early Losses and an Unknown Future

Following the Yemeni revolution, the local Muslim Brotherhood has worked to expand alliances, but often at the expense of their revolutionary partners, which could cost them vital public support.

Female driver Azza Al Shmasani alights from her car after driving in defiance of the ban in Riyadh June 22, 2011. Saudi Arabia has no formal ban on women driving. But as citizens must use only Saudi-issued licences in the country, and as these are issued only to men, women drivers are anathema. An outcry at the segregation, which contributes to the general cloistering of Saudi women, has been fuelled by social media interest in two would-be female motorists arrested in May.REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARA

Saudi Women Renew Fight To Lift Driving Ban

A Saudi student's online call to challenge once again the ban on women driving has gone viral.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal (L) talks with Qatar Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiya following their meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and members of the Arab Peace Initiative at the United States Embassy in Paris, September 8, 2013. REUTERS/Susan Walsh/Pool (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13CWG

US-Russia Syria Deal Affects Saudi Regional Strategy

The US-Russia deal on Syria chemical weapons gives momentum to possible settlement and may mean changes for regional players.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal attends the opening of an Arab foreign ministers emergency meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, September 1, 2013. Saudi Arabia told fellow Arab League states on Sunday that opposing international intervention against the Syrian government would only encourage Damascus to use weapons of mass destruction. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT -

Saudis Set Back by US-Russia Deal on Syrian Chemical Weapons

Saudi Arabia, like Iran, has pursued a sectarian interventionist strategy in Syria that furthers the war and undermines a democratic transition.