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May 7, 2026

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Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 2026.

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s visit to Ankara comes amid rapidly expanding Turkish-Saudi coordination as the fallout from the Iran war reshapes Gulf security dynamics.

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

Latest News

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

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

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

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.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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.

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

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L), Turkey's President Abdullah Gul (C) and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa are seen after the official photo taking session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Mecca August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Hassan Ali (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR36UJ4

Saudi Arabia and Turkey Falter Over Egypt

Though Saudi Arabia and Turkey share strategic goals in the region, the Egyptian coup is testing the strength of the two countries' relations.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (R) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Cairo November 17, 2012. REUTERS/Egyptian Presidency/Handout (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR3AINS

Turkey’s 'Precious Isolation' In the Middle East

Foreign policy decisions by the Erdogan government, including on Egypt and Syria, have left Turkey without any influence over events in the Middle East.

Supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi pray during a rally in protest against the recent violence in Egypt, in Sanaa August 16, 2013. Protests by Mursi supporters turned violent across Egypt on Friday, with witnesses reporting four dead in central Cairo and at least 12 killed in northern cities as the Muslim Brotherhood staged a "Day of Rage". REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTX12NKO

Qatar Encroaches on Saudi Influence In Yemen

As elsewhere in the Middle East post-Arab Spring, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are vying for influence in an unstable and economically weak Yemen.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari speaks at the Diplomatic and Political Joint Coordinating Committee meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12MHG

Iraqi Official: Rouhani 'Means Serious Business' With US

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says the Iranian leadership could have prevented Hassan Rouhani from becoming president if it wanted to continue hard-line policies toward the United States.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Secretary General of Saudi Arabia's National Security Council Prince Bandar Bin Sultan meet in Moscow, August 2, 2007. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin (RUSSIA) - RTR1SGI2

Saudi Arabia and The Illusory Counterrevolution

Washington and Riyadh no longer share the same assessment of the threat and the need for reform in the region.

An honour guard carries coffins of military personnel killed after tribal militants shot down a military helicopter In Marib province, 173 km east of the capital Sanaa. August 7, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: MILITARY OBITUARY) - RTX12CV5

Saudi Arabia Keeps Tight Grip on Yemen

Saudi Arabia is treading carefully in Yemen, especially following the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt.

U.S. President Barack Obama sits next to Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thaniat (not pictured) as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYXDL

Back to the Future for US Policy In Egypt and Syria

The Obama administration gives priority to containing Islamic extremism, not promoting democracy, in the Middle East.

A supporter of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi hangs a poster of him on a wall during a march from the Al-Fath Mosque to the defence ministry, in Cairo July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX124W1

Saudis Divided Over Egypt

Saudi fears of a democratic Egypt are deferred as long as Egypt is crippled by post-revolutionary turmoil.

Graduating soldiers from the Saudi special forces' anti-terror unit demonstrate their skills in protecting VIPs under attack in Riyadh May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA POLITICS) - RTXI8T2

Muslim World Must Declare Zero Tolerance for Militant Jihadists

It is Muslims, not the West, who are paying the highest price for Islamist militancy.

A Free Syrian Army member inspects his weapon beside a checkpoint to siege the Kurdish city of Afrin, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in the Aleppo countryside June 30, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX117H8

The Struggle for Syrian Kurdistan

Al-Monitor covers Syrian Kurdistan, the rebel siege of Aleppo, maids in Saudi Arabia and the Iraqi sex trade.

A supporter carries a campaign poster for Iranian presidential candidate Hassan Rohani on the streets of Tehran June 12, 2013. Picture taken June 12, 2013. REUTERS/ISNA/Mehdi Ghassemi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX10M6A

Iran-Saudi Relations Under Rouhani

President-elect Hassan Rouhani's expected pursuit of pragmatic foreign and regional policies should lead to improved relations and cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Indonesian workers ready to fly to Saudi Arabia to work as maids wait at a shelter during a police inspection in Bekasi, Indonesia's West Java province, June 22, 2011. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decide to apply a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia be effect on August 1 after a 54-year-old Indonesian maid was beheaded on Saturday, convicted of murdering her Saudi employer, Yudhoyono said on Thursday on a live TV broadcast. Picture taken June 22, 2011. REUTERS/Sulth

Maid in Saudi Arabia

Human trafficking and abuse of domestic workers continue in the kingdom.