MBS

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Al Salam Royal Palace, Jeddah, April 22, 2025.

Analysis

Can Modi leverage Saudi-China ties to reshape India’s global standing?

The Saudi "pivot to the east" requires a careful balancing act to avoid antagonizing the United States and damaging ties with China.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

US President Donald Trump (L) and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud gesture during a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE May 13-16: White House

Trump's first foreign trip in his second term is aimed at reassuring Gulf partners over the Iranian threat and attracting new investments.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in AlUla, Saudi Arabia January 26, 2025. Saudi Press Agency

Analysis

Italy revamps ties with Saudi Arabia, eyeing investments and defense trade

On her first visit to Saudi Arabia, Meloni is seeking to rebrand Italy's political engagement in the Middle East and bring about a new era for Italian industry in the region.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (C) inspects a guard of honour during a ceremonial reception at the President House a day after the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 11, 2023. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP) (Photo by MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What to make of Saudi-Iranian flurry of diplomatic activity, military channels?

A high-level military meeting between Saudi Arabia and Iran on Sunday marked another in a series of recent diplomatic engagements between the two nations.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Latest News

MBS condemns Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza as Saudi frustrations mount

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives to attend a EU - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Brussels on October 16, 2024. Avoiding a "general conflagration" in the Middle East will be top of the agenda when European Union and leaders of countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, meet in Brussels on October 16, 2024. (Photo by JOHANNA GERON / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JOHANNA GERON/POOL/AFP via Get

Saudi crown prince hosts Iran's FM as Riyadh shields itself from Israel tension

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Iranian foreign minister in Riyadh, Oct. 9, 2024. (SPA)

Analysis

UAE president to visit White House as frustrations mount over Gaza endgame

US President Joe Biden (R) and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) attend a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Analysis

In military reshuffle, Saudi Arabia seeks efficiency, closing gap with regional rivals

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomes Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman to the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on November 1, 2023. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Why Saudi Arabia is focused on tensions with Iran

The Saudis have called an Arab summit for May 30 in Mecca to likely brand Iran as a terrorist state, with the apparent hope that the United States will strike Iran.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC18E76205A0

Congress tries to defund US nuclear transfers to Saudi Arabia

House Democrats want to use the power of the purse to halt the transfer of US civil nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia January 14, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC1E4A498AC0

Saudis’ troubled ties in region threaten Trump's anti-Iran agenda

The Trump administration is tightening the screws on Iran, but Saudi Arabia, Iran's archnemesis, may not be of help drumming up support for the US policy given the state of its current relations in the Arab world.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi stands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during the group photo with Arab leaders, ahead of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia March 31, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/Pool - RC17FA0F57C0

King Salman is back in the saddle

With the crown prince's international reputation tarnished, King Salman of Saudi Arabia has stepped in and resumed traveling, hoping to regain control of the kingdom's image abroad.

Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) questions Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen as she delivers the semi-annual testimony on the "Federal Reserve's Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System" before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - D1BEUDXPKMAA

Intel: How Trump administration is using loophole to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia

TOPSHOT - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at the Future Investment Initiative FII conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 24, 2018. - The summit, nicknamed "Davos in the desert", has been overshadowed by growing global outrage over the murder of a Saudi journalist inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi investment fund hires US PR firm to create distance from crown prince

New York-based Karv Communications will be paid $120,000 a month to “create a clear distinction” between the $200 billion fund and its embattled chairman.

An Aramco emplyee looks over Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. Picture taken May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah - RC1FE84D0AE0

Can Saudi Arabia afford a stimulus?

Oil-revenue-dependent Saudi Arabia still has $490 billion in reserve assets, but its massive foreign and domestic commitments and a long-term declining demand curve for oil could spell trouble down the road.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shakes hands with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RC1FF5346100

Saudi crown prince capitalizes on photo ops in Asia

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's walk on the Great Wall of China, visits to Pakistan and India and the appointment of a Saudi princess as ambassador to Washington distract attention from the Khashoggi killing and the war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pictured while meeting with the Tunisian President during his arrival at the presidential palace in Carthage on the eastern outskirts of the capital Tunis on November 27, 2018. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo credit should read FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi crown prince looks to Asia trip to boost image

Facing fallout in the West over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hopes his upcoming trip to Asia will project an image of business as usual.

Saudi Arabia seeks to entice visitors with pre-Islamic sites

Following last year's $20 billion French-Saudi deal to accelerate al-Ula’s development, there are more international archaeologists on the ground than ever before.

Ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY), who is a leading candidate to take over the panel, poses for a portrait in his office on Capitol Hill November 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Congress puts heat on Saudis as Trump shields crown prince

With President Donald Trump set to blow off a deadline to assess Prince Mohammed’s role in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Congress is gearing up to pass several anti-Riyadh measures.

The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) Leaders are seen ahead of their Summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 9, 2018. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC1819A5F470

GCC states boxed in by US sanctions on Syria

The United States creates dilemmas for GCC in Syria; Qatar steps up with $500 million Lebanon investment; Netanyahu seeks Arab photo-op in Poland.