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

Saudi Arabia cover image

Saudi Arabia

May 1, 2026

Riyadh 8:00 pm

33°C

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

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

Egypt’s Dar al-Kiswah — a monument turned into a dump

After Egypt stopped producing the Kaaba’s kiswah in 1961, the centuries-old site of production now lies in a state of utter neglect amid calls for renovation by nearby residents and experts.

Protesters carry Al-Qaeda flags during an anti-government protest after Friday prayers in the town of Marat Numan in Idlib province, Syria, March 11, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTSAD3X

Iranian military official: We will 'uproot' Jabhat al-Nusra

Jabhat al-Nusra's rebranding as independent of its parent organization al-Qaeda has not raised eyebrows in Tehran, where officials say only the group’s name has changed.

A journalist takes photos of a school destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in the southwestern city of Taiz, Yemen July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub - RTSJWDA

Saudi Arabia may keep playing 'Iran card' to defer decision on Yemen

Yemen victim of Saudi-Iran hostility; Islamic State tries, and fails, to recruit Kurds; Al-Monitor resumes series on lobbying by Middle East governments.

Tribesmen hold up their weapons during a gathering to show support to the Houthi movement in the northern city of Saada, Yemen August 2, 2016. REUTERS/Naif Rahma - RTSKOS5

Saudi Arabia's moment of truth in Yemen

Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud has three options to choose from on Yemen, none of them good.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks during an interview with Reuters in Doha October 16, 2014. Meshaal on Thursday called on Muslims to defend the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, saying Israel was trying to seize the site, revered in Islam and Judaism and focus of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4AH1S

Saudi visit to Israel angers Hamas

The Hamas movement is worried that a Saudi general's visit to Israel signifies a rapprochement between the two countries at the expense of Gaza relief efforts.

Were Saudis behind Abbas-MEK meeting?

A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Mujahedeen-e-Khalq leader Maryam Rajavi in Paris has sparked both Iranian and Palestinian suspicion about Saudi Arabia's ties to the Palestinian Authority.

Egyptian activists shout anti-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and government slogans during a demonstration protesting against the government's decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, in front of the Press Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, April 13, 2016. The sign reads, "The two Islands Tiran and Sanafir are the Egyptians". REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RTX29RVO

Will Egypt hold popular referendum on islands transfer?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Egyptian presidential candidate and lawyer Khalid Ali discusses the case he brought before the administrative court to challenge Cairo’s decision to transfer ownership of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Members of al Qaeda's Nusra Front ride on a tank as they head towards their positions during an offensive to take control of the northwestern city of Ariha from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Idlib province May 28, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTR4XXNO

Al-Qaeda affiliate’s desperate 'switch' validates US Syria policy

Fear of US and Russian airstrikes on eve of Syrian offensive a sign that Jabhat al-Nusra may be feeling the heat; Turkey’s de-Gulenification campaign in context; retired Saudi general probes Israeli commitment to peace settlement.

What Saudi Arabia can offer Israel

The unofficial visit by a retired Saudi general to Israel was a quiet overture that indicated Riyadh is willing to explore normalization with Israel in return for advancing the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 02: Founder and trustee of the King Faisal Foundation as well as the Chairman of the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal speaks on stage during the 2015 Concordia Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on October 2, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)

Is Saudi Arabia really seeking regime change in Iran?

While Iran has strongly reacted to former Saudi spy chief Turki bin Faisal Al Saud’s appearance at the MEK’s annual conference, Iranian observers merely see the Saudi move as bringing a longstanding hidden agenda out in the open.

Customers use computers at an internet cafe in Tehran May 9, 2011. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless others were banned shortly after the re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the huge street protests that followed. Seen by the government as part of a "soft war" waged by the enemies of the Islamic Republic, social networking and picture sharing sites were a vital communication tool for the anti-Ahmadinejad opposition -- more than a year before they played a similar rol

Is Iran its own worst enemy in Twitter war with Saudi Arabia?

In response to anti-Iranian hashtags generated by Saudi Arabian Twitter users, Iranians are calling for authorities to remove the block on the social media site.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari holds a press conference in Tehran on September 16, 2012. Jafari said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, are present in Syria and Lebanon but only to provide "counsel." AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

IRGC head calls House of Saud 'clear enemy' of Iran

As tensions continue to simmer, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said in a speech that Saudi Arabia is now one of Iran's "clear enemies" and accused the Saudis of trying to spread instability in the country.