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Saudi Arabia

May 1, 2026

Riyadh 3:51 pm

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Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

The UAE accounts for 12% of OPEC's output, but tensions had been simmering over intragroup rivalries and the country wanting to export more oil.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

The proposed framework faces major hurdles and fault lines, ranging from NATO constraints to Israeli opposition and weak military integration.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Analysis

Gulf energy deals face Iran war stress test as global expansion meets oil shock

A picture shows the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administrated by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital Doha, on Feb. 6, 2017.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton finish their third and final 2016 presidential campaign debate at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., October 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2PMHB

Arabs seek new partnership with next US president

A new poll shows widespread distrust but reliance on the United States.

Newly elected Lebanese President Michel Aoun reviews the honour guards upon arrival to the presidential palace in Baabda, near Beirut, Lebanon October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTX2R7BA

Iranian politicians hail election of Lebanon’s new president

Iranian politicians across the political spectrum have hailed the election of Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s new president.

Houthi followers watch as their leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi delivers a speech during a rally commemorating the death of Imam Zaid bin Ali in Sanaa, Yemen October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX2QLC8

Is Yemen headed for partition?

An open-ended cease-fire is needed for Yemen, but a de facto partition of the country is more likely.

A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo - RTX2OBC0

Why OPEC still can’t get Iran to cut oil production

Despite the agreement in principle on output cuts at its September meeting in Algeria, OPEC still has a long way to go in getting Iran to stop its drive to regain market share.

Christian politician and FPM founder Michel Aoun (L) walks next to Lebanon's former prime minister Saad al-Hariri after he said he will back Aoun to become president in Beirut, Lebanon October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2PSCO

Hariri reverses political slide by backing Aoun presidency

Saad Hariri’s success as prime minister will depend on new compact with Michel Aoun and Hezbollah, less so on Saudi Arabia; Al-Monitor breaks news of Russian draft plan for Syrian Kurdish autonomy; United States seeks ground force to isolate Raqqa.

A member from the Iraqi security forces stands guard at a checkpoint during a patrol at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2016. Picture taken February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTX27OUC

Execution of Saudi prisoners widens gap between Baghdad, Riyadh

Iraq has executed three Saudi prisoners and nine others are on death row, raising the objections of Saudi Arabia that wants Baghdad to transfer the prisoners to the kingdom.

Saudi warships are seen during “Gulf Shield 1” exercise by members of Royal Saudi Navy, east of Saudi Arabia, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RTSRHDY

Iran unfazed by Saudi flexing in Persian Gulf

Saudi Arabia's large-scale military exercises may be cause for some concern in Iran, but Saudi capabilities in the Persian Gulf can't compare to those of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Flames emerge from a pipeline at the oil fields in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - RTSS8IG

How oil is bringing Iraq, Egypt closer

Iraq is planning to supply Egypt with a million barrels of oil as both countries face a deteriorating relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Christian politician and FPM founder Michel Aoun (L) talks during a news conference next to Lebanon's former prime minister Saad al-Hariri after he said he will back Aoun to become president in Beirut, Lebanon October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX2PR3I

How Lebanon’s presidential problem turned into opportunity

Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his support for former chief of the army and Hezbollah ally Gen. Michel Aoun as president, which may have been Hariri's last resort as his relationship with Saudi Arabia has been tense.

Egyptian lawyer and leftist opposition figure Khaled Ali (C) stands among people outside the State Council's building, Egypt's highest administrative court, in Cairo on June 26, 2016, after the court postponed to July 3 the hearing of the government's appeal against the decision to block the controversial handover of two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
The deal over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir prompted some of the largest public protests in two years when it was signed in April. The countr

Will Cairo reverse decision to transfer islands to Riyadh?

As the Egyptian government defends in court its maritime border agreement with Saudi Arabia that transferred two Red Sea islands to Riyadh, a lawyer for the state provoked controversy after admitting the "islands are still Egyptian."

A view of a municipal board building after it was destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen, October 2, 2016. REUTERS/Naif Rahma TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSQEFL

Have Turkey's neo-Ottomans abandoned Yemen?

Turkish media ignores Yemen despite mounting civilian casualties, but hard-core Islamists and secular groups blame the neo-Ottoman government for being a pawn of Western and Saudi interests.

Smoke rises at a community hall where Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSRFSR

Is US reconsidering its support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen war?

The recent missile attacks on US vessels off Yemen’s coast as well as the limited US response suggest that Washington may be disengaging from the war in Yemen and putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to follow suit.