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November 12, 2026

Riyadh 1:04 pm

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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

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said (R) meets with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Muscat March 12, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani (OMAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR3GQ5T

Oman, stuck between Saudi Arabia and Iran

With a long history as a regional mediator and close ties with both Riyadh and Tehran, will Oman be able to cool the recent Saudi-Iranian tensions following the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr?

Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shout as they stand near a burning tyre during a demonstration against the execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, in Baghdad, Iraq January 4, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX20ZMU

The Saudi predicament

The execution of a prominent Shiite cleric jeopardizes already fragile international efforts to end the wars in Syria and Yemen.

What did Saudi Embassy attackers want?

Some in Iran suspect the "rogue elements" who attacked Saudi Arabia's embassy intended to sabotage the administration's foreign policy goals of improving relations with foreign countries post-nuclear deal.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz during a luncheon ahead of the G20 summit in Belek in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Pool - RTS6ZYF

Has Turkey’s regional power grab come to an end?

Turkey is forfeiting its claims for regional supremacy by joining the Saudi-led Sunni alliance and making friendly overtures toward Israel.

Shi'ite Muslims living in Greece hold pictures of Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and shout slogans during a demonstration against his execution in Saudi Arabia, outside the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Athens, Greece, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis - RTX219TK

Brother of executed Saudi cleric says Nimr is 'martyr against injustice'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Mohammed al-Nimr, the brother of the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed by Saudi Arabia, speaks about his family’s reaction, responses inside and outside Saudi Arabia and the fate of his brother’s body.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir attends a meeting for Gulf states Foreign Ministers in Riyadh, December 7, 2015. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RTX1XLV1

What are the real goals of Riyadh’s new Islamic coalition?

The Saudi-led Islamic coalition was not formed to only combat IS, but also to determine the future of Sunni areas in the conflict areas in Syria and Iraq.

A Sudanese farmer works on his corn farm on the banks of the river Nile in Khartoum November 11, 2009. For centuries, farmers like Berhanu Gudina have eked out a living in Ethiopia's central lowlands, tending tiny plots of maize, wheat or barley amid the vastness of the lush green plains. Now, they find themselves working cheek by jowl with high-tech commercial farms stretching over thousands of hectares tilled by state-of-the-art tractors -- and owned and operated by foreigners. Picture taken November 11,

Will Saudi agricultural investments in Sudan leave Egypt high and dry?

Experts say Egypt can’t afford to remain stoic about Sudan’s ever-rising water needs.

Relatives of journalist Abdul Kareem al-Khaiwani attend his funeral procession in Sanaa March 24, 2015. Assailants on a motorbike last week shot dead al-Khaiwani, one of Yemen's top journalists who is also an activist close to the country's dominant Houthi group, police sources said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTR4UO9O

Will Yemen’s journalists fare better in 2016?

In 2015, some journalists in Yemen suffered so much harassment and abuse that they quit their jobs and fled the country.

Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca September 21, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood - RTS24CV

Will Iran suspend hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia?

After Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran and suspended direct flights between the two countries, some are wondering if Iranian pilgrims will be banned.

Shi'ite protesters carry posters of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration in front of Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, January 3, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX20V2E

Saudi-Iranian crisis complicates Ankara’s regional plans

Islamists and secularists alike want Turkey to stay out of the Iranian-Saudi conflict.

How will Saudi-Iranian crisis affect the region?

As relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran reach their worst levels yet following the Saudi execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, the United States, Russia and the European Union are exerting all possible efforts to avoid a spillover to other countries where these parties wield influence.

An Iranian protester holds up a street sign with the name of Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration against the execution of Nimr in Saudi Arabia, outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran January, 3, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX20VLE

US scrambles to curb damage from Saudi-Iranian fallout

American diplomats try to salvage Syria peace efforts and avert the further deterioration of Iranian-Saudi relations after Saudi Arabia abruptly severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Jan. 3.