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May 10, 2026

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Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 2026.

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s visit to Ankara comes amid rapidly expanding Turkish-Saudi coordination as the fallout from the Iran war reshapes Gulf security dynamics.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

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

Head of the Badr Organisation Hadi al-Amiri (C) walks with Shi'ite fighters in Makhoul mountains, north of Baiji, October 17, 2015. Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militia fighters recaptured most of the country’s largest oil refinery from Islamic State militants on Thursday, security officials said. The report could not be independently confirmed because it is too dangerous for journalists to enter the battle zone around the refinery near the town of Baiji, about 190 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad. REUTERS/Thaie

Why Saudis may take on Iraq’s Shiite militias

Saudi Arabia sees Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, formed from various Shiite militias to fight the Islamic State, as a dangerous long-term foe for the Sunni Islamic world.

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

Saudis increasingly frustrated with Lebanon

The Saudis, who aspire to expand their status in the Gulf, are growing ever more frustrated with Lebanon.

Lebanese Army soldiers on their military vehicles take part in a military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Lebanon's independence, in downtown Beirut November 22, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX15OH2

Why did Riyadh cancel $4 billion in aid to Lebanon?

Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah provide different reasons for the cancellation of billions of dollars in aid that the Gulf state had pledged to Lebanon, until it decided otherwise on Feb. 19.

Muslim Brotherhood's president-elect Mohamed Morsy (R) arrives at the Egyptian Television headquarters for his first televised address to the nation in Cairo June 24, 2012. Morsy's victory in Egypt's presidential election takes the Muslim Brotherhood's long power struggle with the military into a new round that will be fought inside the institutions of state themselves and may force new compromises on the Islamists. Picture taken June 24, 2012. To match Analysis EGYPT-ELECTION/STRUGGLE/ REUTERS/Stringer (

Who's behind vote to label Muslim Brotherhood a terror group?

After the House Judiciary panel voted along party lines to force a State Department ruling, opinions remain split over the true motivation behind the step.

What fading oil fortunes means for Turkey's businesses

Turkish businesspeople are losing sleep over oil-producing states' deferrals of payments to international contractors and the possible loss of mega projects.

UNICEF's representative in Yemen, Julien Harneis, listens to a boy during a visit to Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub - RTX23EIY

Death, starvation haunt southern Yemen

The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen’s besieged Taiz calls for immediate action to lift the siege that has strangled the city for almost a year.

Soldiers stand guard at the Jordanian-Syrian border, near Mafraq, August 16, 2015. Commander of the Jordanian Border Guard, Brigadier General Saber Mahayrah, said on Sunday that there was no sign of Nusra Front or Islamist State fighters on the border between Jordan and Syria. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1OELU

Will Saudi Arabia pressure Jordan to join ground offensive in Syria?

There is increasing talk about a land war in Syria to combat the Islamic State, but the Jordanians thus far appear reluctant to get involved.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a giant screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs' Leader Day in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTX278R4

Does Hezbollah seek Israel’s elimination? 'Not so,' says Nasrallah

Hezbollah leader says group will not open new front against Israel; Turkey’s two-front war; battles for Aleppo “unlike any others”; Saudi military exercise provides distraction.

Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria position themselves in Ghazila village after taking control of the town from Islamic State forces in the southern countryside of Hasaka, Syria February 17, 2016. Picture taken February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX27JLM

Can Ankara's plans keep up with Syria's escalation?

The course of events in Syria offer opportunities but also new threats to Ankara, which still has to deal with structural flaws in its Syrian policy.

A member of the Saudi security forces stands guard as other demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Arar, near Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Faisal AlNasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR4TWNJ

Are latest war games just a face-saver for Riyadh?

Saudi Arabia is hosting over 150,000 troops from 20 countries for military exercises in the northeast, but while officially aimed at deterring Iran, they could have a very different purpose.

A woman makes her way through the rubble of damaged buildings after airstrikes by pro-Syrian government forces in the rebel held town of Dael, in Deraa Governorate, Syria February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir - RTX26N2E

Turkey threatens fragile Syria peace accord

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the United States is responsible for "sea of blood" in Syria as Turkey attacks Syrian Kurds; Ankara and Riyadh raise specter of ground operations in Syria.

Yemenis, hoping to obtain a flight ticket back to Yemen, wait outside a branch office of Yemenia Airways after being stranded in Cairo, April 28, 2015. At least 15 people were killed in heavy fighting between Houthi fighters and tribesmen in the oil-producing Marib province in central Yemen, tribal and medical sources said on Tuesday, as Saudi-led air strikes against the Iran-allied militia continued. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih - RTX1AND4

Displaced Yemenis suffer in silence in Egypt

Despite the war raging in their country, Yemen’s displaced citizens in Egypt await the day they can return.