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Saudi Arabia

June 30, 2026

Riyadh 7:25 pm

38°C

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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

The symbols of bitcoin and the stablecoin Tether (USDT) are displayed at a cryptocurrency store in Hong Kong on July 29, 2025.

Interview

Saudi Arabia eyes state-backed stablecoin amid digital finance push

Tokenization in Saudi Arabia has rapidly evolved from concept to early-stage execution since the early 2020s.

Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

How Iran war is prompting Saudi Arabia to pursue its own Shahed drones

Saudi Arabia is moving to domestically produce a long-range attack drone modeled on Iran’s Shahed-136, signaling a major shift toward scalable, low-cost offensive deterrence.

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

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

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Container rates climb as logistic firms scale up Hormuz alternatives

The Drewry World Container Index measuring container shipping prices has soared by more than 40% since the start of the US-Israel-Iran war.

United Arab Emirates

Muslim worshippers walk along the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca on May 22, 2026, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Gulf celebrates Eid al-Adha under shadow of war

The holiday marks the first time in decades that Gulf states are observing one of Islam’s holiest celebrations against the backdrop of a regional conflict.

United Arab Emirates

Zain JAAFAR / AFP via Getty Images

Between heat and war, Saudi Arabia seeks incident-free Hajj

Mecca's temperature reached a high of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday and is expected to hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) on Wednesday.

This aerial photograph taken on April 26, 2023 shows the construction of the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin Province. - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try to offset his absence from the campaign trail weeks before crucial elections by unveiling the nuclear plant by video link. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

UAE nuclear plant strike clouds Gulf's atomic ambitions: What to know

The US-Israel-Iran war is complicating momentum in the Middle East for civilian nuclear power, which heading into 2026 had been growing in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and elsewhere.

United Arab Emirates

SAHA EXPO 2024

Analysis

Cheap drones, costly threats: Why Gulf states are looking to Turkey for defense deals

Iran’s drone and missile attacks have exposed gaps in Gulf and Iraqi air defenses, giving Turkey an opening for Turkish defense sales, but Ankara has a narrow window before South Korean and European competitors gain ground.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Philippe LOPEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As Gulf crisis reshapes energy markets, experts warn of new normal

With the US-Israel-Iran war producing a historic supply shock, Al-Monitor hosted a panel of experts to explore how the conflict has ushered in a new era for global energy markets.