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November 12, 2026

Riyadh 10:34 am

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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

Flames emerge from a pipeline at the oil fields in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - RTSS8IG

How oil is bringing Iraq, Egypt closer

Iraq is planning to supply Egypt with a million barrels of oil as both countries face a deteriorating relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Christian politician and FPM founder Michel Aoun (L) talks during a news conference next to Lebanon's former prime minister Saad al-Hariri after he said he will back Aoun to become president in Beirut, Lebanon October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX2PR3I

How Lebanon’s presidential problem turned into opportunity

Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his support for former chief of the army and Hezbollah ally Gen. Michel Aoun as president, which may have been Hariri's last resort as his relationship with Saudi Arabia has been tense.

Egyptian lawyer and leftist opposition figure Khaled Ali (C) stands among people outside the State Council's building, Egypt's highest administrative court, in Cairo on June 26, 2016, after the court postponed to July 3 the hearing of the government's appeal against the decision to block the controversial handover of two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
The deal over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir prompted some of the largest public protests in two years when it was signed in April. The countr

Will Cairo reverse decision to transfer islands to Riyadh?

As the Egyptian government defends in court its maritime border agreement with Saudi Arabia that transferred two Red Sea islands to Riyadh, a lawyer for the state provoked controversy after admitting the "islands are still Egyptian."

A view of a municipal board building after it was destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen, October 2, 2016. REUTERS/Naif Rahma TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSQEFL

Have Turkey's neo-Ottomans abandoned Yemen?

Turkish media ignores Yemen despite mounting civilian casualties, but hard-core Islamists and secular groups blame the neo-Ottoman government for being a pawn of Western and Saudi interests.

Smoke rises at a community hall where Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSRFSR

Is US reconsidering its support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen war?

The recent missile attacks on US vessels off Yemen’s coast as well as the limited US response suggest that Washington may be disengaging from the war in Yemen and putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to follow suit.

Protesters and family members of 9/11 victims protest in front of the White House regarding President Barack Obama's threatened veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) in Washington, U.S., September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron - RTSOMWI

Has JASTA pushed Saudi Arabia and Israel closer?

Riyadh has become convinced more than ever that the closer it gets to Tel Aviv, which it believes has influence in US decision-making circles, the stronger and safer it will become in the face of JASTA.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI (L) meets with his Saudi counterpart, King Abdullah, at the former's palace in Bouskoura on the outskirts of Casablanca on September 11, 2012 AFP / PHOTO / AZZOUZ BOUKALLOUCH (Photo credit should read AZZOUZ BOUKALLOUCH/AFP/GettyImages)

Will warming ties with Iran impact Morocco’s relationship with Saudi Arabia?

Morocco announced the appointment of an ambassador to Tehran, ending a seven-year break in diplomatic ties. But concerns are emerging about the reaction of Saudi Arabia, an ally to the kingdom and enemy of Iran.

Iranian soldiers participate in military manoeuvres on the outskirts of the northeastern Iranian town of Torbat-E-Jam, near Mashhad, on November 17, 2015. Iran started military manoeuvres to respond to possible attacks by armed groups, such as the Islamic State (IS) group, a military commander said according to ISNA. AFP PHOTO / ISNA / HOSSEIN HOSSEINZADEH (Photo credit should read HOSSEIN HOSSEINZADEH/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran’s new challenge: The Islamic State in Persia?

Though Iran has announced that it has killed the Islamic State’s "emir" in the country, it continues to face serious security threats from a variety of militants.

(From L-R), Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, speak togethe

Are Egyptian-Saudi disputes just a passing crisis or a decisive storm?

Egyptian-Saudi squabbles over Syria and Yemen have gone viral, and some worry that this will have a lasting negative effect on the relationship between Cairo and Riyadh.

Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing Daniel Glaser testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the situation in Ukraine on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 6, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

US Treasury official praises Saudi cooperation against terror funding

Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser says there has been substantial progress reducing funds amassed by the Islamic State, but warns that IS could seek external financing if it loses its "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.

Smoke rises from the community hall where Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen on October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo - RTSRJA4

Will Obama push for Yemen cease-fire?

The United States, which fired cruise missiles at rebel radar sites in Yemen on Oct. 13 after missiles were fired at a US warship, needs to push for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Yemen before things get even more out of hand.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shake hands following a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara on August 12, 2016. / AFP / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Is Turkey ditching Saudi Arabia for Iran?

The recent string of high-level meetings between Iranian and Turkish officials suggests that the two regional powerhouses may be moving closer on Syria.