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November 5, 2026

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Aramco begins expansion of oil export route bypassing Hormuz

The kingdom plans to expand the East-West Pipeline’s capacity to carry crude to as much as 10 million barrels per day.

Latest News

Oil tops $114 as traders brace for Iran escalation after US midterms

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell, New York City, Sept. 28, 2026.

Russian satellite data helped Yemen’s Houthis target Saudi Arabia: What to know

Security forces stand guard in front of a banner showing the Kaaba during a protest by supporters of the Houthi authorities against the Saudi intervention in Yemen and against Saudi Arabia's recent accusation that the Houthis fired at the holy city of Mecca, in Sanaa on Sept. 18, 2026.

Analysis

How wartime urgency pushed Iran to court Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan

A woman walks past a mural bearing the Iranian national flag

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Saudi oil infrastructure in crosshairs as Houthis claim Ras Tanura strike

BILAL QABALAN/AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) greets Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Ufa, Russia, July 9, 2015. Rouhani said on Thursday he was grateful to Russia for its efforts to secure an agreement at talks between six major powers and Iran on Tehran's nuclear program. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1JQOA

Iran-Russia relations after nuclear deal

Russian and Iranian relations have been improving, and are expected to continue to improve even after a nuclear deal despite their being energy competitors.

The stakes in Vienna

Fragile and promising trends in regional security and US-Iran cooperation are already underway as a result of the nuclear negotiations.

An elderly woman leaves a charity food assistance center after receiving her ration in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 1, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX1INNM

The world fails Yemen

As Yemen languishes in the highest-level humanitarian crisis the UN recognizes, the situation is not helped by an unbalanced and ineffectual Security Council resolution.

Chechen soldiers, representing Russia and wearing uniforms stitched with Chechen flags, compete in the 7th Annual Warrior Competition at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center in Amman April 22, 2015. Thirty-eight teams from 18 countries are participating in the competition to test their military skills. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX19UI0

Russia's Middle East gamble

Russia's historical links with the Middle East run deep, as even amidst challenges Moscow sees opportunities.

Crowds surround the Imam Sadiq Mosque after a bomb explosion following Friday prayers, in the Al Sawaber area of Kuwait City June 26, 2015. Four people were killed in the suicide attack on Friday on the Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Kuwait City, the governor of Kuwait City Thabet al-Muhanna said. REUTERS/Jassim Mohammed - RTX1HWP4

The Islamic State is coming for the Gulf

The Islamic State seems to believe its recent suicide attacks against Shiite targets in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will increase its appeal to Sunnis in the Gulf.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) leaves after a wreath-laying ceremony with members of the Supreme Military Council at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara November 30, 2012. Erdogan will chair the twice-yearly meeting of the Supreme Military Council at army headquarters. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3B1R8

Erdogan looks for military victory to avenge electoral defeat

Some observers believe that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to force Turkey into a confrontation with Syria before a coalition government is formed.

Lebanese army soldiers stand next to displayed weapons that they received during a ceremony 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. (From L to R) The national flags of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and France are displayed during the ceremony. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX19H2B

Riyadh's shifting Beirut policy

Recent decisions and a series of measures adopted by Saudi Arabia all point to a clear change in the way the kingdom will be handling relations with Lebanon.

Palestinian fighters from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, are seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR42YJR

Fight against IS draws Hamas, Egypt closer

Relations between Hamas and Egypt, strained since the 2013 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, appear to be improving with Saudi mediation.

A serviceman carries a air-to-ground missile next to Sukhoi Su-25 jet fighters during a drill at the Russian southern Stavropol region, March 12, 2015. Russia has started military exercises in the country's south, as well as in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine last year, news agency RIA reported on Thursday, citing Russia's Defence Ministry. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR4T425

Did Moscow’s 'air defense' diplomacy land Saudi deal?

After decades of disappointment, it appears Russia might finally become an arms supplier to Saudi Arabia, after also reaching deals with Iran and Egypt.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) attends a meeting with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Konstantin (Konstantinovsky) Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor - RTX1H394

How stronger Russia-Saudi ties may be threat to Assad

The recent visit of Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince to Russia suggests a possible progression in Saudi-Russia relations. But what implications could such an alliance have on regional conflicts, particularly the Syrian crisis?

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces walk with their weapons at the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCDN

Leaked cables show Gulf leery of Shiite expansion

The Gulf states are concerned about the growing influence of Shiites in neighboring countries, expressing their fears of the relations established between the Shiites of Iran and Iraq and their own Shiite communities.

Former Syrian Coalition head Ahmad al-Jarba (L) attends the opening session of a Syrian opposition conference, in Cairo, Egypt June 8, 2015. Syrian opposition members are meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria and the need for a united opposition. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - RTX1FN3W

Cairo's shifting stance on Syrian crisis

Cairo and its regional ally Riyadh have not been seeing eye to eye when it comes to the Syrian crisis and ways to resolve it, amid bitterness on the part of Syrian opposition factions that accuse Cairo of not strongly contributing to finding a solution to the crisis.