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Saudi Arabia

June 30, 2026

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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

Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal (L) holds a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal following a meeting in Riyadh on Januray 3, 2010. Meshaal said that the Egyptian-led talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian Islamist movement and its rival Fatah were close to bearing fruit. AFP PHOTO/PAUL HANDLEY (Photo credit should read PAUL HANDLEY/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas reaches out to new Saudi leadership

As Hamas offers its condolences for the death of the Saudi king, it seems to be using "funeral diplomacy" as an opportunity to re-establish ties with the Gulf state.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (R) welcomes an Iraqi Shiite cleric at the Royal Palace in the Moslem holy city of Mecca. October 21, 2006. Iraqi Shi'ite and Sunni clerics meeting in Mecca called on Friday for an end to sectarian violence that many fear could lead to civil war in Iraq. REUTERS/Saudi News Agency/Handout (SAUDI ARABIA) - RTR1IJKP

Shiites have mixed reactions to new Saudi king

The death of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz divided the Shiite community: While many celebrated and rejoiced, others deeply regretted the death of the Saudi monarch who was known for his moderate and reformist attitude.

Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood protesters make the 'four-fingered salute' during a protest against the Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sissi as they mark the third anniversary of revolution, in front of the Egyptian embassy in Amman January 25, 2014. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX17U9I

Jordan pressured to restrict Muslim Brotherhood

Some in Jordan believe the government will not break its historical ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, while others say there will be a crackdown on the group to keep Gulf aid flowing into the kingdom.

Saudi's newly appointed King Salman (R) shakes hands with US President Barack Obama at Erga Palace in Riyadh on January 27, 2015. Obama landed in Saudi Arabia with his wife First Lady Michelle Obama to shore up ties with King Salman and offer condolences after the death of his predecessor Abdullah. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Tough choices ahead for US-Saudi relationship

The longstanding relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is in need of review, for Saudi human rights abuses and its domestic politics, for instance, are increasingly talked about topics by Americans and the world.

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (L) arrives with his uncle King Salman (R) to greet U.S. President Barack Obama at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, January 27, 2015. King Salman's appointment of his nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as Deputy Crown Prince makes him 2nd in the line of succession and he becomes the first grandson of the kingdom's founding monarch to take an established place in the line of succession. Picture taken January 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (SAU

Saudi King Salman quickly makes his mark

King Salman has shuffled key Cabinet positions to consolidate power in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (L) meets with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR2K0M9

Erdogan's Saudi dilemma

Experts say Ankara will maintain cordial, if not warm, ties with Riyadh, disregarding deep differences over Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood.

A man walks past Lebanese Army soldiers patrolling a street in the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon October 23, 2012. Four people were killed and 15 wounded in overnight gun battles in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in a second night of fighting between Sunni and Alawite gunmen loyal to different sides in the war in neighbouring Syria, a military source said on Tuesday. The poster in the background depicts Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON -

Death of Saudi king brings Lebanese leaders together

Several Lebanese officials and delegations, including rivals of the kingdom, have visited Saudi Arabia to pay their condolences for the death of the Saudi king, possibly heralding new breakthroughs in the Lebanese crises.

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said (R) walks with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani upon Rouhani's arrival in Muscat March 12, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani (OMAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR3GQAH

After Qaboos, who will be Oman's next sultan?

Now that Saudi Arabia has seen its succession through, attention has moved to who will succeed Oman's Sultan Qaboos, who has been in Munich since the summer for unspecified health reasons.

Could Israel’s strike on Hezbollah in Syria spark Iran nuclear talks?

The latest Israel-Hezbollah confrontation might be a catalyst for a nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran; Iran can ease Saudi Arabia’s security predicament; Netanyahu sees electoral gain in snubbing Obama.

A Houthi fighter mans a checkpoint on a road leading to the U.S embassy in Sanaa January 21, 2015. Yemen's minority Shi'ite Houthi fighters took up guard at President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's home on Wednesday but said they had not toppled him, after two days of fighting which left little doubt that the enfeebled leader was now at their mercy. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR4MBMY

Yemen falls apart

The death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and the resignation of Yemen's President makes Yemen the first priority for Saudi's new King Salman.

Houthi fighters secure an entrance to the presidential palace in Sanaa January 22, 2015. A senior official of Yemen's Houthi movement said on Thursday that a statement by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi aimed at defusing a political crisis was acceptable because it confirmed the terms of a power-sharing agreement signed in September. Witnesses said Houthi fighters remained in position outside the presidential palace and Hadi's private residence, where the head of state actually lives. Hadi in his statement

US maintains intelligence relationship with Houthis

Despite alarmist news reports, the Barack Obama administration appears to have adjusted to the rise of the Houthis in Yemen and is continuing attacks on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Women walk past members of Saudi security forces as they keep guard in Manfouha, southern Riyadh, November 14, 2013. A Sudanese man was killed in a second flare of clashes since Saturday between Saudi riot police, citizens and foreign workers in Riyadh amid a clampdown on visas, state media said late on Wednesday. The report on the official Saudi Press Agency, which cited a Riyadh police spokesman, gave no further details about the dead man, but said the clashes had started as a dispute between Saudis and f

Saudi Arabia beheadings in stark contrast with fight against IS

Saudi Arabia's human rights record of public punishments and criminalization of dissent finds its roots in the Al-Saud ruling family's "contract" with Wahhabism.