Riyadh

The new crescent: Mecca pact gives rise to a Saudi-led Sunni bloc, posing new challenges for Israel

BEHIND THE LINES: Anti-Israel statements of the emergent alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are not just rhetoric. Rather, they form an integral element in its strategy.

|ByJONATHAN SPYER
TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, pose after signing a joint defense agreement in Mecca last Friday.
Members of Houthi security force stand guard as Houthi supporters rally against the Saudi-led coalition's restrictions on Houthi-controlled areas, which the group describes as a blockade, in Sanaa, Yemen, July 17, 2026.

Saudi Arabia considers backing Yemeni ground offensive to retake Houthi-held Red Sea coast

For three years, Saudi Arabia has sought to contain the Houthis while avoiding a return to full-scale war. What happens next turns on what Riyadh decides.

|ByJACOB WIRTSCHAFTER/THE MEDIA LINE
U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman attend a bilateral meeting at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025.

Saudi Arabia-US nuke deal helps MBS realize Saudi Vision 2030 - opinion

By the centenary year, if the plan succeeds, Saudi Arabia will no longer be dependent on oil revenues, transforming instead into a modern, liberalized, thriving society

|ByNEVILLE TELLER
People walk by a billboard sponsored by the Coalition for Regional Security calling for the expansion of the Abraham Accords, in Ramat Gan, Israel.

US-Saudi nuclear deal shows the Abraham Accords is a positive incentive - analysis

The full details are not known, and the US Congress will want to know more about this pact. However, the story sheds light on an important issue relating to the Abraham Accords.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN

Saudi Arabia frees nine Iranian fishermen detained two years ago

Saudi authorities released the men in a boat in Iranian waters on Wednesday.

FEBRUARY 22, 2018ByREUTERS
Local Baluch fishermen push a boat to the shore at a fishing port in Tiss village in the suburb of the port city of Chabahar 1,452 km (902 miles) southeast of Tehran, near Strait of Hormuz January 16, 2012.

Jordanian scholar: Shared concern over Iran not enough for Israel-Sunni alliance

“The Palestinian narrative runs deep in [Arab] cultures.”

JANUARY 31, 2018ByBEN LYNFIELD
File: Jordan's King Abdullah II greets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House in Washington

Eleven Saudi princes detained following protest over utility bills

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has introduced reforms that included cutting subsidies, introducing value added tax (VAT) and cutting perks to royal family members.

JANUARY 6, 2018ByREUTERS
Policemen stand outside al Rajhi Mosque in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2011.