Saudi Arabia

The elevation of Mohammed bin Salman as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has ended two years of speculation about a behind-the-scenes rivalry near the pinnacle of royal power, but he still has to win over powerful relatives, clerics and tribesmen. The 31-year-old favored son of King Salman was already in effect the day-to-day ruler, with […]

Qatar will not negotiate with its neighbors to resolve the Gulf dispute unless they first lift the trade and travel boycott they imposed two weeks ago, its foreign minister said, but added Doha still believed a solution was possible. The United Arab Emirates, which along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain imposed the measures to […]

Saudi Arabia is upping the ante in an effort to put pressure on other Muslim nations to aid in their efforts to isolate and cut ties to Qatar. The Saudis are using the carrot and the stick approach, having promised financial packages for cooperation and reduced financial aid and quotas for the haj, the religious […]

Gulf states traded public barbs on Saturday, showing little sign of resolving the region’s deepest rift in years, five days after Arab nations severed diplomatic, trade and transport ties with the tiny Gulf kingdom of Qatar. Foreign leaders expressed growing concern over the dispute, which pits Qatar against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), […]

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out on Sunday against U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s leaders for their new regional alliance against Tehran, saying it would bear no fruit. Trump singled out Iran as a key source of funding and support for militant groups during his visit to Saudi Arabia in late […]

In a landmark address to major leaders of the Arab and Muslim world this weekend, President Trump spoke of a renewed relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world, united in a fight against extremism, and bound by the concept of ‘principled realism.’ Speaking in Saudi Arabia in a grand ballroom before the assembled representatives […]

Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom touted by President Trump as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State, has helped block a Trump administration proposal to impose sanctions against a Saudi branch of the terrorist group, documents show. The plan to add the Islamic State’s Saudi affiliate to a U.N. list of terrorist […]

Saudi Arabia could launch a land offensive in Yemen to crush its Iranian-aligned Houthi enemies but the cost in casualties would be heavy on both sides, the kingdom’s powerful deputy crown prince said on Tuesday.   Read the whole story from Reuters.

When U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis greeted Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister at the Pentagon last month, the first thing he did was joke about the time “the Iranians tried to murder you.” Mattis’ reference to a foiled 2011 plot, denied by Iran, was a telling sign of how much more aligned President Donald Trump’s administration […]

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a royal decree on Saturday restoring financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel that had been cut under austerity measures. “The royal order returns all allowances, financial benefits, and bonuses to civil servants and military staff,” said the decree, broadcast on state-run Ekhbariya TV. In September Saudi Arabia cut […]

In his first trip to Saudi Arabia as Secretary of Defense, James Mattis is seeking to shore up relations between the U.S. and the Saudis, while sending Iran a message. Along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Trump administration is effecting a sort of ‘reboot’ with the Saudis, who had felt continually at odds […]

A Saudi Arabian Blackhawk helicopter crashed during military operations in Yemen on Tuesday killing 12 personnel on board. Saudi sources are stating that the cause of the crash was friendly fire. The four officers and eight non-commissioned officers were killed while on a mission to try to force out the dominant Houthi group and restore […]