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November 7, 2026

Riyadh 6:45 pm

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WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 18: Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a dinner in the East Room at the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosting the Crown Prince for meetings aimed at strengthening economic and defense ties, including the U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

Gulf’s $3 trillion US investment drive faces post-midterm Trump reckoning

A sweeping midterm election victory by Democrats on Nov. 3 is cause for concern among Gulf states that eagerly embraced Trump's White House and pledged huge investment commitments.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Culture

What’s next for Cristiano Ronaldo after retirement from Portugal team?

The Portuguese superstar is signed to the Saudi side Al Nassr until 2027, but the Yemen war is impacting the sport in the kingdom.

Latest News

Aramco begins expansion of oil export route bypassing Hormuz

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

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attends the closing session of 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu November 27, 2014. A brief meeting between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart appears to have salvaged a summit of South Asian leaders, with all eight countries clinching a last-minute deal to create a regional electricity grid.
REUTERS/Niranjan Shrestha/Pool (NEPAL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4FUCN

Pakistan declines to join Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran alliance

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected, at least for now, Saudi Arabia's entreaties for Pakistani troops to help guard the Saudi border with northern Yemen, controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite forces.

A Palestinian girl recites Koran to her teacher during a Koran memorization lesson on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at a mosque in Gaza City June 29, 2014.REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY EDUCATION) - RTR3W9WR

Can you be an Islamist and a feminist?

Feminists and others in the West intent on "liberating" the women of the Muslim world fail to recognize a brand of Islamist feminism demanding public and private space for women to contribute to society.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.

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

Are Turkey, Saudi Arabia working together against Iran?

Analysts fear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being dragged into Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran Sunni bloc.

Saudi new King Salman (C) speaks with Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef (L) as they walk to greet US President Barack Obama (unseen) and First Lady Michelle Obama (unseen) at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on January 27, 2015. Obama landed in Saudi Arabia to shore up ties with new 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)

Erdogan tests waters in Riyadh

Diplomats argue that Erdogan’s Saudi Arabia visit is an attempt to regain some of the regional clout Turkey has lost in the Middle East.

A Palestinian policeman loyal to Hamas stands guard near burning tyres during a protest by Palestinians calling for reconstruction of their houses that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, outside a United Nations food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR4PQSX

Regional events have Hamas in political limbo

Various events and unresolved regional crises have fed Hamas' reluctance to forge regional alliances and take decisive positions on developments in the Arab world.

Veiled Saudi women work at a coffee shop in Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh November 30, 2013. Saudi Arabia's crackdown on foreign workers has thrown millions of lives into turmoil and caused rioting in big cities, but the economy should benefit in the long run as Saudi nationals fill the gaps and cut their dependence on the state. REUTERS/Mohamed Alhwaity (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY EMPLOYMENT) - RTX15YWV

Saudi women react to new king

Saudi women are unsure whether the new King Salman will reverse the limited gains in women's rights made under King Abdullah.

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

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gives the opening speech during Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. Rafsanjani lost his position on Tuesday as head of an important state clerical body after hardliners criticised him for being too close to the reformist opposition. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITIC

Rafsanjani: Saudi-Iran cooperation can fix regional issues

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has said that cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia can resolve some issues, but conceded that there are still many differences at the moment.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin (L) and Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) of Saudi Arabia talk through their interpreters during a plenary session at the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane November 15, 2014. Western leaders attending the G20 summit blasted Putin on Saturday for the crisis in Ukraine, threatening further sanctions if Russia did not withdraw troops and weapons from its neighbouring nation. REUTERS/Rob Griffith/Pool (AUSTRALIA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS ROYALS) - RTR4E8XK

Tensions rise between Saudis, Russians

Russia's controversial policies in the Middle East have brought increasing friction with Saudi Arabia — both in the region and inside Russia — to new heights.

Egypts ex-army chief and presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) walks alongside Saudi Prince al-Walid Bin Talal during a meeting in Cairo on May 19, 2014. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is Egypt's presidential frontrunner in the May 26-27 election. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Gulf states to cut aid to Egypt

The Egyptian government hopes the Egypt Economic Development Conference will succeed in attracting new investments given an expected drop in aid from the Gulf.

French President Francois Hollande attends a news conference in Riyadh December 29, 2013. France will supply weapons to the Lebanese army if it is asked to do so, French President Hollande said on Sunday during a visit to Saudi Arabia where he met King Abdullah. REUTERS/Stringer (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16WOP

Arms shipment to Lebanon to arrive in April

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has announced that the first arms shipment of the Saudi grant, which has been stalled for more than year, will arrive to Lebanon on April 1.