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September 11, 2026

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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 supporter of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi hangs a poster of him on a wall during a march from the Al-Fath Mosque to the defence ministry, in Cairo July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX124W1

Saudis Divided Over Egypt

Saudi fears of a democratic Egypt are deferred as long as Egypt is crippled by post-revolutionary turmoil.

Graduating soldiers from the Saudi special forces' anti-terror unit demonstrate their skills in protecting VIPs under attack in Riyadh May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA POLITICS) - RTXI8T2

Muslim World Must Declare Zero Tolerance for Militant Jihadists

It is Muslims, not the West, who are paying the highest price for Islamist militancy.

A Free Syrian Army member inspects his weapon beside a checkpoint to siege the Kurdish city of Afrin, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in the Aleppo countryside June 30, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX117H8

The Struggle for Syrian Kurdistan

Al-Monitor covers Syrian Kurdistan, the rebel siege of Aleppo, maids in Saudi Arabia and the Iraqi sex trade.

A supporter carries a campaign poster for Iranian presidential candidate Hassan Rohani on the streets of Tehran June 12, 2013. Picture taken June 12, 2013. REUTERS/ISNA/Mehdi Ghassemi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX10M6A

Iran-Saudi Relations Under Rouhani

President-elect Hassan Rouhani's expected pursuit of pragmatic foreign and regional policies should lead to improved relations and cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Indonesian workers ready to fly to Saudi Arabia to work as maids wait at a shelter during a police inspection in Bekasi, Indonesia's West Java province, June 22, 2011. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decide to apply a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia be effect on August 1 after a 54-year-old Indonesian maid was beheaded on Saturday, convicted of murdering her Saudi employer, Yudhoyono said on Thursday on a live TV broadcast. Picture taken June 22, 2011. REUTERS/Sulth

Maid in Saudi Arabia

Human trafficking and abuse of domestic workers continue in the kingdom.

An Egyptian Air Force F-16 fighter jet flies low over thousands of anti-government protesters gathered at Tahrir square in Cairo January 30, 2011. Egyptian air force fighter planes buzzed low over Cairo on Sunday, helicopters hovered above and extra troop trucks appeared in a central square where protesters were demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's rule. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTXXAH3

US Should Not Cut Aid to Egypt’s Military

US military aid can sustain American leverage and assist Egypt’s democratic transition.

Grooms take part in a mass wedding ceremony in Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh, May 2, 2012. Governor of Tabuk Prince Fahad Bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz and a local group organised the mass wedding for about 1600 couples to help youths who are unable to afford expensive ceremonies because of the rising cost of living. REUTERS/Mohamed Alhwaity (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR31J6Q

Saudi Women in the Masculine State

A Review of "A Most Masculine State" by Madawi Al-Rasheed.

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi waves at the end of his visit to the Mosque of Prophet Mohammed in Madinah July 12, 2012. REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR34VN8

Saudi Arabia Pleased With Morsi’s Fall

Saudi Arabia has a vested interest in the Muslim Brotherhood’s failure in Egypt and the message it sends to sympathetic audiences in the region.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah speaks at the opening ceremony of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Mecca August 14, 2012. Leaders of Muslim countries are expected to suspend Syria's membership of the OIC at a summit in Mecca on Wednesday, despite the vocal objections of President Bashar al-Assad's main ally Iran. REUTERS/Hassan Ali (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR36UIG

Untimely Test for Saudi Regime

Clashes in Saudi Arabia between Shiite youths and the authorities expose the vulnerability of the kingdom, amid explosive unrest in the region.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani speaks with a Reuters correspondent during a private interview in Tehran February 6, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi RH/CJF/AA - RTRMHK5

Rouhani Win Could Reduce Iran-Saudi Tensions

While Iran's President-elect Hassan Rouhani has said that improving relations with Saudi Arabia will be among his top priorities, no one should expect their mutual hostility to end completely.

The body of Saudi Arabia's Prince Badr bin Abdul Aziz, former deputy commander of the National Guard is lifted during his funeral at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, April 2, 2013. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY ROYALS OBITUARY) - RTXY5U5

Saudi Arabia’s Quiet Transition

Although the ascension the next generation of Saudi Arabia's princes is not a sign of reform, it is a major transformation in the kingdom’s leadership.

Veiled women carry vegetables as they walk along a street at the neighbourhood of Shmeisy in Riyadh April 22, 2013. A royal decree in Saudi Arabia has shaken up the way in which the government allocates vast tracts of land, removing an obstacle to a $67 billion programme to ease the country's housing shortage. Picture taken April 22, 2013. To match Story SAUDI-HOUSING/ REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: BUSINESS REAL ESTATE POLITICS CONSTRUCTION) - RTXYY39

Social Divisions Hinder Saudi Rights Movement

Ideological and social polarization is preventing a strong Saudi rights movement from emerging.