Saudi Arabia - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Saudi Arabia cover image

Saudi Arabia

November 11, 2026

Riyadh 10:40 pm

13°C

ankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes, on June 23, 2025.

Explainer

UAE selling Saudi oil highlights new Gulf energy realities

News surfaced on Nov. 10 that the UAE has reportedly marketed 1.87 million barrels of Saudi crude salvaged from a damaged supertanker for sale, marking an exceptional example of energy cooperation between Gulf rivals.

United Arab Emirates

ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images

GCC to build military command center in Kuwait as region simmers: What to know

GCC countries have stepped up their joint defense efforts with the announcement of a new forward command center to be headquartered in Kuwait, as tensions between Iran and the US continue to escalate.

Latest News

Analysis

Syria denies sending troops to fight Houthis in return for Saudi loans

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed el-Khereiji (R) speaks with Syria's interim foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Iraq, Saudi Arabia face attacks as Trump pursues Iran deal

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Analysis

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

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)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

<<enter caption here>> on March 17, 2017 in Beijing, China.

Has China gained an edge on the US in the Gulf?

China has upped the ante, but the United States holds the winning hand; Oman weighs risks and benefits of Gulf bailout; will migrant workers return to GCC?

TOPSHOT - A trader walks by beneath a stock display board at the Dubai Stock Exchange in the United Arab Emirates, on March 8, 2020. - Saudi's stock exchange fell 6.5 percent and other Gulf markets tumbled to multi-year lows at the start of trading after OPEC and its allies failed to clinch a deal over oil production cuts. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020

The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smoke billows following an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, on June 16, 2020. - Yemen is wracked by a war which has killed tens of thousands of people and led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
The war between Huthi rebels and pro-government forces escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAM

Houthis state readiness to talk peace with Saudis as missiles continue to rain

By escalating military operations against Riyadh, the Houthis are seeking to build themselves a position of strength for public negotiations with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Malki (Center-L) shows US Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker (C) reportedly Iranian weapons seized by Saudi forces from Yemen's Huthi rebels, during a visit to a military base in Al-kharj in central Saudi Arabia, on September 05, 2019. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted Iranian weapons bound for Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition intercepted a boat carrying light weapons of Iranian origin bound for war-wracked Yemen, Saudi and US officials said today.

Oman weighs costs of bailout from Gulf neighbors

Gulf countries might step up to keep Oman’s public finances afloat, but experts warn strings may be attached.

Houthi rebels in Yemen fire missiles into Saudi capital

Houthi officials said the missiles hit military targets, but Saudi Arabia said it intercepted the missiles.

GCC faces possible setback with exodus of skilled professionals

The coronavirus pandemic coupled with the oil crisis is pushing foreign workers to exit the Gulf states, perhaps shaping future labor policies.

Muslims perform the Friday prayers inside the Masjid Al-Nabawi while practicing social distancing, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Madina, Saudi Arabia June 5, 2020. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC213H9U7LRF

Saudi Arabia to reopen Mecca mosques as cases surpass 150,000

Saudi health officials confirmed an additional 4,301 cases of the virus Friday, raising the case count to more than 150,000.

People walk at the scene of an air strike that hit a gas station near a hospital in Kutaf district of the northwestern province of Saada, Yemen March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Naif Rahma - RC1B84944380

Saudi-led coalition in Yemen denies civilians targeted in Saada airstrike

The Houthi group said 13 civilians, including four children, were killed in a coalition airstrike Monday.

An ampoule of Dexamethasone is seen during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in this picture illustration taken June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Illustration - RC23BH9ZVDAF

Saudi Arabia approves dexamethasone as coronavirus treatment

The kingdom's Ministry of Health has begun using the cheap drug on critically ill patients.

Saudi-led coalition in Yemen intercepts ballistic missile blamed on Houthis

A spokesperson for the coalition said the missile was among more than 300 launched by the rebels since 2015.

A view of the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden, Yemen December 13, 2018. Picture taken December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman - RC1E76E38540

Intel: Yemen separatists capture government convoy hauling cash to Aden

Fighters affiliated with Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council hijacked a convoy carrying billions of foreign-printed Yemeni riyals near the port of Aden on Saturday.