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

Saudi Arabia cover image

Saudi Arabia

September 27, 2026

Riyadh 3:04 am

29°C

France s President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he arrives for a State diner in his honor at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Aug. 24, 2026.

What France’s military deployment means for Saudi Arabia’s fight against Houthis

New pledges of limited British and French military deployments fall short of what Riyadh would likely need to defend its skies should the Houthis escalate further.

A shipping vessel transits the Strait of Hormuz

Explainer

Saudi Arabia’s return to Hormuz puts oil transfer network to the test

For months, Saudi Arabia had been eschewing the Strait of Hormuz, but the kingdom has now resorted to ship-to-ship transfers through the vital waterway.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

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

Trump administration dusts off Cold War playbook to defend Saudi ties

The Donald Trump administration is using a popular 1980s theory to rationalize support for a friendly autocracy.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivers a major policy speech on "Ending corruption in Washington" at the National Press Club, Washington, U.S., August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC1CC27B06B0

Intel: How Democratic 2020 hopefuls are making the most of anti-Saudi backlash

A U.S. Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system is seen on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, October 26, 2017. U.S. Army/Capt. Adan Cazarez/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC1F3FF590F0

Intel: Why the US and Saudi Arabia just inked $15 billion missile defense deal

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at Ministro Pistarini in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 28, 2018. Argentine G20/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1B18A699F0

Will Erdogan, MBS meet at G-20?

The Turkish president hasn't ruled out meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Argentina, but what could the de facto Saudi leader offer for Turkey to bury the Jamal Khashoggi murder case?

Official handshakes, angry crowds greet Saudi crown prince in Tunis

Tunisian protesters say hosting the Saudi crown prince, who is accused of ordering journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder last month, is the wrong move for a country striving to promote democratic gains and ensure human rights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Czech President Milos Zeman attend the inauguration of the "Czech House" in Jerusalem November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC12B86811C0

Netanyahu’s diplomacy: buying friends by selling weapons

Rather than basing its global standing on the principles of equality and justice, Israel exports cyber weaponry to tyrannical, racist rulers.

Hafidh Abdullah al-Khawlani, who survived a Saudi-led air strike stands with his father on the wreckage of a bus destroyed by the strike in Saada, Yemen September 4, 2018. His brother was killed by the air strike. Picture taken September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Naif Rahma - RC1FB49D40C0

Congress clears key hurdle in ending support for war in Yemen

In an unprecedented move, the Senate has cleared a key procedural hurdle that paves the way to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in Yemen.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media after a closed briefing for senators about the latest developments related to the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC151380CF00

Pompeo-Mattis briefing on Yemen to Senate bombs

Secretaries of State and Defense, Mike Pompeo and Jim Mattis, urged senators to stay the course on US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, but senators said they were inclined to vote for legislation to curtail US support.

Why Iran is also a strategic asset for Israel

A significant number of Arab and Muslim leaders in the Middle East and the world fear Iran. For them, Israel is the only real answer to the Iranian threat and the only country able to confront it.

Activists, including Aimee Artigliere, center, chant as they begin to march during a demonstration calling for sanctions against Saudi Arabia and against the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, outside the White House in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC195EEDBBA0

Trump administration launches last-ditch effort to halt anti-Saudi bills

The Donald Trump administration is briefing the Senate on Riyadh’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi in a last-ditch bid to kill a resolution intended to end US support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen.

Smoke rises from a warehouse of the World Food Programme as fire engulfs it in Hodeida, Yemen March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad - RC1F6A979000

Intel: Why the US opposes UN calls for a Yemen cease-fire

Secondary students sit for an exam in a government school in Riyadh June 15, 2008. Tens of thousands of Saudi students from elementary, middle and high schools have started their one-week mid-term exams. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA) - GM1E46F1C6L01

Intel: How bigoted ‘backsliding’ in Saudi textbooks belies MBS’ reformist credentials