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

Saudi Arabia cover image

Saudi Arabia

June 30, 2026

Riyadh 5:32 pm

41°C

PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia's FM heads to China amid differences with US on Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s visit to Beijing comes as commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains unstable.

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

Around 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is 35 years old or younger, according to the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, providing ample opportunity for an educated and technology-savvy national workforce in the coming decades.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Gulf states push incentives for investors, expats after war dents image

Several Gulf states are working to recover their images as global havens of stability in the wake of the Iran war.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Interview

Franco-Gulf investment holds firm despite Iran war, French official says

French Trade & Invest Commissioner for United Arab Emirates and Middle East and Business France's regional director for the Middle East Axel Baroux. — Business France

Axel Baroux

France’s trade and investment commissioner for the UAE and Middle East

Saudi Aramco's VC arm sees boom in emerging technologies, retail

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

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah talks to his Lebanese and Yemeni supporters through a giant screen during a speech against U.S.-Saudi aggression in Yemen, in Beirut's southern suburbs April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTR4XSC5

Yemen dispute could hurt Lebanon

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's verbal attack against Saudi Arabia and its regional allies in a televised speech March 27 about Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen could be part of a process leading to much greater tensions and even conflict in Lebanon.

Abdulrahman Al-Banyan (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, arrives to the Arab League headquarters to attend an Arab defence ministers meeting in Cairo April 22, 2015. The talks are expected to focus on the war in Yemen, Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East and security threats from Islamic State. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

Should Saudi Arabia test Iran’s offer of diplomacy on Yemen?

Iranian officials offer diplomatic initiative and warnings on Yemen; book burning in Giza; Kremlin ignored Israeli objections on missile system sale to Iran; Russian "soft power" in the Middle East.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama deliver remarks to reporters after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington April 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTR4XBNF

Iraq maintains neutrality in regional conflicts

On a visit to Washington, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi leveled criticism at Iran and Saudi Arabia, reflecting his desire to maintain a neutral position in their regional rivalry.

Followers of the Houthi group demonstrate against the Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX19UBJ

Head of Iran’s Basij congratulates Houthis on 'victory'

Hard-line Iranian officials and media have stated that Saudi Arabia failed to achieve their objectives in Yemen and have strengthened the Houthi position.

Jordan's King Abdullah addresses the European Parliament during a debate in Strasbourg, March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR4SQZH

Jordan focuses on IS fight while Gulf allies pull back

Jordan's King Abdullah expresses strong differences from many of his allies on how best to deal with the Islamic State, fighting regional terrorism, developments in Syria and US Middle East policy.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (L) meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran June 26, 2011. REUTERS/Khamenei.ir (IRAN)
- Tags: POLITICS) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR2O49U

Iran, Sudan fall out over Yemen

The Saudi Arabian-led coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen has tested the decadeslong ties between Iran and Sudan.

(From L to R) Lebanon's army chief General Jean Kahwaji, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian review weapons given to the Lebanese army at Beirut airport airbase April 20, 2015. The first shipment of French weapons and military equipment arrived in Lebanon on Monday under a Saudi-funded deal worth $3 billion to bolster the Lebanese army's fight against militants encroaching from neighboring Syria. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX19H1M

First delivery of French weapons arrives in Lebanon

Nearly 16 months since the announcement of $3 billion in Saudi military aid to Lebanon, the first weapons shipment from France has already disappointed.

Saudi students prepare to fly a home-made replica of a jet fighter on April 8, 2015 in Tabuk. The plane was nicknamed "Decisive plane" as a sign of support to Saudi-led coalitions Operation Decisive Storm against the Huthi rebels in Yemen. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ALBUHAISI

(Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ALBUHAISI/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi elites divided on Yemen war

A brief survey of Saudi opinion reveals that many elites consider Operation Decisive Storm a legitimate attempt to halt Iranian expansionism, while some view the intervention in Yemen as a sectarian war.

A supporter of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith organization holds a picture of Saudia Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz during a rally in support of Saudi Arabia over its intervention in Yemen, in Lahore April 19, 2015. . REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Saudi Arabia’s deepening isolation in Yemen

Saudi Arabia faces a quagmire in Yemen; a US-Iran “catalogue of cooperation” after a nuclear deal; Iranian activists skeptical on human rights progress; Israel unnerved by Russian decision on missile sale to Iran; the Good Friday massacre in Aleppo; is Erdogan shifting from sectarianism?

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah greets his Lebanese and Yemeni supporters through a giant screen during a speech against US-Saudi aggression in Yemen, in Beirut's southern suburbs April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTR4XS93

Nasrallah to Saudi Arabia: Enough is enough

In a recent address to his supporters Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah voiced his disapproval of Saudi Arabia's regional policies, blaming the kingdom for inciting destruction across the region.

Israel-US tensions on Iran prompt Palestinian strategy

Palestinians are adapting their strategy to the Iranian deal, proposing to use the same P5+1 model for negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also an international supervision mechanism on the borders.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi walks to a meeting with the Senate leadership at the U.S. Capitol in Washington April 15, 2015. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan - RTR4XHQA

Iraqi PM walks back criticism of Saudi Arabia

On his first official visit to Washington, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi showed how hard it is for his country to juggle conflicting outside powers.