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Saudi Arabia

November 11, 2026

Riyadh 4:01 pm

17°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.

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

Analysis

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

The Saudi Fund for Development and Syria’s Finance Ministry recently inked more than $403 million in concessional loan agreements, fueling speculation that Damascus agreed to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in exchange for financial aid.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

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

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

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

A Saudi mine worker pours a stream of molten gold from the furnace into moulds to produce gold ingots during a press tour at the Al-Amar Gold Mine, 195kms southwest of the Saudi capital Riyadh, on May 28, 2008.

Will Saudi Arabia see mining gold rush in 2024?

The kingdom plans to take advantage of the growing demand for critical minerals to power the green transition.

Ons Kayanee

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reps Saudi fitness brand Kayanee at Australian Open

Jabeur has expressed support for Saudi investment in tennis in the past as the kingdom seeks to boost its sports holdings.

A Eurofighter jet of the TacticalAir Force Wing 71 "Richthofen" of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr approaches during the Hannover Shield exercise at the airport in Hannover, northern Germany, Nov. 27, 2023.

Germany reverses, to greenlight Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia

Germany stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018, but has since come under increasing pressure to allow the sale of the jets to the Gulf country.

An Iran Air Boeing 747 passenger plane sits on the tarmac of the domestic Mehrabad airport in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Jan. 15, 2013.

Why has Iran Air abandoned plans to relaunch Saudi Arabia flights despite detente?

The Iran Air flights to Saudi Arabia were intended to transport pilgrims to Jeddah and were scheduled to take off from Tehran, Mashhad and Isfahan on Wednesday.

People attend the International E-Sport Gamers forum Next World in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sept. 7, 2022.

Saudi PIF invested $31.6B in 2023, record in global sovereign wealth funds

The PIF is estimated to have nearly $800 billion in assets and wants to become the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund by 2030.

Wang Yi speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations headquarters on Nov. 29, 2023.

With confidence at all-time high, can China emerge as Mideast peace broker?

China is riding a wave of support since its Iran-Saudi agreement, but experts say the Palestinian-Israeli brokerage is a different matter.

An employee of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) is pictured in this undated image.

Saudi mining firm Ma’aden announces gold discovery

Saudi Arabia seeks to boost its mining sector, including via investment at home and abroad.

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

What does Saudi Arabia's CICA membership mean for its Asia pivot?

The kingdom’s achievement of observer status in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia follows similar moves with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.

Ronald Al Nassr

Analysis

2023 in review: The year Saudi Arabia became sports superpower

The kingdom has been laying the groundwork to become a sporting leader for decades, but this year marked a turning point as investment ramped up.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power signs $4B green hydrogen deal in Egypt

The second phase of the project could produce 2 million metric tons per year, the statement said, without providing details on the timeline.

A picture taken on November 23, 2016 shows smoke plumes rising behind a billboard at the Maaden Aluminium Factory in Ras Al-Khair Industrial area near Jubail City, 570 kms east of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Middle East transparency on carbon emissions lags behind rest of world

Turkey and the UAE led the pack for most transparent countries in the region regarding greenhouse gas emissions.

United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih speaks on stage during the 2022 Concordia Annual Summit at the Sheraton Hotel, New York, Sept. 19, 2022.

China-Saudi Investment Conference begins in Beijing

China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner and biggest customer of its primary commodity: crude oil.