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Saudi Arabia

January 13, 2026

Riyadh 9:56 am

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This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 12, 2023, as Israel's army and Gaza militants traded heavy cross-border fire. Israel and Gaza militants traded heavy fire today as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting that have killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel holds drills, prepares missile defenses for possible Iran attack: What to know

Israel is on high alert over the possibility of an American strike on Iran, which could trigger Iranian retaliation against the Jewish state.

The skyline of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 31, 2023.

MidEast VC funding hits record $3.8B in 2025, driven by strong Gulf showing

Many emerging venture markets contracted in 2025, but the Middle East and North Africa bucked the trend.

A pump jack stands near an oil spill at a facility in Venezuela.

Analysis

How Trump’s Venezuela oil grab could test OPEC’s power, Mideast energy models

Over the longer term, Washington’s bid to bring the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves firmly into its orbit raises questions for OPEC's strategy and the outlook for big-spending Gulf producers.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) gestures as he welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

Analysis

Amid Saudi-UAE rivalry, Turkey courts Riyadh without crossing Abu Dhabi

Turkey is moving closer to Saudi Arabia on key regional security files from Yemen to Gaza, while carefully avoiding a rupture with the United Arab Emirates.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

US envoy pushes for Sudan truce in meeting with UAE’s MBZ after talks in Saudi Arabia

US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos (L) meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 8, 2026.

Meet Aidarus Zubaidi: Separatist leader at heart of Yemen’s power struggle

SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi SABIC sells $950M in overseas assets amid global chemicals slump

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

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

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al Khalid al Sabah, Qatar's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah, Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UAE'S Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L-R) pose for a group photo during an extraordinary meeting in Riyadh January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al N

How united is the GCC?

While Gulf states may all be united under the Gulf Cooperation Council name, their individual policies on foreign intervention vary greatly.

A worker stands at a desalination plant, 35 lm south of Riyadh, May 4, 2011. Long before it understood the value of oil, the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia knew the worth of water. But the leading oil exporter's water challenges are growing as energy-intensive desalination erodes oil revenues while peak water looms more ominously than peak oil -- the theory that supplies are at or near their limit, with nowhere to go but down. Picture taken May 4, 2011. To match Feature SAUDI-WATER/ REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed

What Saudi Arabia is doing to save water

Saudi Arabia’s self-sufficiency policy has led to the overconsumption of water, a resource that Saudi Arabia critically needs.

Will the Russians be able to help Lebanon get a new president?

Russia’s withdrawal from Syria and the goodwill it generated in Arab circles, may allow it to play the role of mediator in Geneva and to help Lebanon fill its presidential vacuum.

Is this the man who will replace Abbas?

It seems dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan is expanding his regional and international influence to become the potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Iran officials defend Rouhani's Pakistan trip

After criticism suggesting that President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to Pakistan did not achieve anything, officials from the administration and media linked to the administration have fired back.

People look at the site of a suicide bombing in Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 26, 2016. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman - RTSCBIP

After 10 years of war, are Yemenis hopeless?

The war in Yemen has added a new group of internally displaced persons to that previously created during a decade of conflict between Houthis and the state.

A plaque is displayed outside the Iranian embassy in central London, Britain August 20, 2015. Britain will reopen its embassy in Iran this weekend nearly four years after protesters ransacked the elegant ambassadorial residence and burned the British flag. The move to restore full diplomatic relations marks a thawing of ties with Iran since it reached a nuclear deal with the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain. REUTERS/Paul Hackett - RTX1OYJ1

MP says Iran shuttered embassies over lack of funding

According to one Iranian parliamentarian, financial issues were behind Iran's closing of a number of embassies, for which the Foreign Ministry has long complained of a lack of funding.

Can Hezbollah withstand Saudis' wrath?

Hezbollah's actions are isolating Lebanon from the Arab states and exacerbating the country's already fractured and paralyzed politics.

Erdogan takes authoritarian rule to new heights in war on PKK

Terrorist bombing in Turkey kills two Americans as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan resurrects "thought crimes" in confronting critics; Is Iran a spoiler in Palestinian politics? Israel cool to feelers from Sudan.

Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy attends a briefing in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTSB317

What Russia's Syria shift means for Moscow-Riyadh ties

Russia’s likely gradual and partial military withdrawal from Syria may minimize one of the irritants in the Russian-Saudi relationship, but it won’t address their fundamental differences.

Will Riyadh cancel aid to Egypt?

Saudi Arabia might be using the promise of aid or the threat of withdrawing aid to get Egypt to toe the line politically in regard to Syria.

Why is Hariri back in Lebanon?

There is much speculation about why Saad Hariri has returned to Lebanon, including that he plans to help elect a president so he can head a new Cabinet and save himself politically and economically.