Indonesia’s government on Thursday announced that it has canceled plans for its citizens to participate in the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the second year in a row, citing concerns over the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Definitive proof, if found, that a laboratory accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) may have caused the Chinese coronavirus pandemic has the potential to break the nearly impenetrable shield of sovereign immunity protecting China from lawsuits by American victims of the virus.
Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday it plans to invest nearly $1 billion in economic support to African nations this year.
Saudi Arabia’s government will require people to prove that they have received a Chinese coronavirus vaccination before they are allowed to enter “any governmental, private, or educational establishments” or use public transportation starting August 1, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Tuesday.
Iraqi President Barham Salih claimed in an interview on Wednesday that Baghdad has “more than once” hosted secret talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Iranian officials and state media on Friday interpreted conciliatory remarks from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in an interview on Tuesday as proof the Saudis realize their intervention in Yemen was a failure, and have abandoned any hopes of defeating Iran in a struggle for regional authority.
Reuters reported Wednesday that “major Chinese investors” are in talks to buy a stake in Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto chief executive of Saudi Arabia, said in a televised interview Tuesday that he wants to improve relations with regional rival Iran.
Indian Muslims must receive a full set of Chinese coronavirus vaccinations before participating in this year’s Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Hajj Committee of India announced Thursday.
Only people “immunized” against coronavirus will be allowed to perform the Islamic Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Houthis, Yemen’s Iran-backed Islamist terrorist insurgency, attacked civilian and military sites in Saudi Arabia on Thursday with 18 armed drones.
Sikorsky Aircraft has received a $99.9 million contract to provide 25 modified UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the Pentagon announced this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged if he wins Tuesday’s elections, he will launch direct flights from Israel to Saudi Arabia to ease the journey for Muslim Israelis making the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy site.
Former White House adviser Jared Kushner published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, urging President Joe Biden not to squander the opportunity for peace created by the Trump administration’s diplomacy in the Middle East.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber joined escort aircraft of Israel, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in a flight over the Persian Gulf, in a show of force aimed at Iran.
Two weeks after removing Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi insurgents from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, the Biden administration pled with the Houthis to stop launching terrorist attacks against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
Meghan Markle, the wife of Prince Harry, is being accused of wearing “blood money” earrings that were gifted to her from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi insurgents launched a major attack on the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia on Sunday, sending a swarm of missiles and armed drones to attack a vital Saudi Aramco facility.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, crowed at Thursday’s OPEC meeting that the American energy revolution is over, OPEC would soon regain control over oil markets, and “Drill, baby, drill is gone forever.”
President Joe Biden promised to restore relations with U.S. allies, but the White House indicated Monday that it is deliberately backing away from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, traditionally a key Arab ally in the Middle East.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “many” people in Saudi Arabia want to normalize relations with Israel, and expressed his hope the Gulf kingdom will join the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations.
Former Saudi Oil Minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani, who died Tuesday, was an architect of the 1973 oil embargo and widely misreported by Arab-language media, including CNN’s Arab edition, to have been the first Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Arab News reported Wednesday that the claim of him serving as Secretary-General was false and attributed it to Yamani’s page on the Arabic Wikipedia, which has included the false claim since the page’s creation in 2005.
DUBAI — Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is enjoying an extended honeymoon with oil-rich Gulf nations, despite being criticised in the United States and Europe as a potential security threat.
President Biden’s Central Intelligence Agency nominee, William Burns, was gifted a Super Bowl group trip by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador when he served as president of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, according to responses he provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Saudi women will be allowed to apply for positions in various branches of the Kingdom’s military for the first time, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced over the weekend.
The same Houthi rebels that President Joe Biden plans to officially remove from U.S. terrorist lists on Tuesday to allow more humanitarian assistance into Yemen are “diverting” aid for starving Yemenis, the State Department recently announced.
Saudi state television on Wednesday reported an attack on a civilian airport in Saudi Arabia by the Houthis, the Iran-backed Islamist insurgents who overthrew the internationally-recognized government of Yemen in 2014.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday released one of the country’s most prominent women’s rights activists, Loujain Alhathloul, nearly three years after she was imprisoned on charges she violated an anti-terrorism law.
President Joe Biden plans to rescind the Trump administration’s decision to label the Houthi Ansarullah movement in Yemen a terrorist organization to allow international humanitarian aid, funded in part by U.S. taxpayers, to flow into areas controlled by the Iran-backed group, a State Department spokesman indicated on Monday.
The Biden administration announced Friday it will revoke the terrorist designation from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi insurgents.
The Biden Administration is suspending arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia — two key Gulf allies that President Donald Trump cultivated as a counter to Iran and as part of building support for peace with Israel.
Saudi Arabia’s health ministry on Thursday announced the launch of an online “Health Passport” designed to track people’s health status, including if they have received a coronavirus vaccination.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to “unite efforts” against “threats posed by the Iranian regime” on Tuesday in his speech at the 41st GCC Summit in the Saudi city of Al-Ula.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, told reporters at a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Tuesday that his country and its allies will “fully set our differences aside” with Qatar, ending a virtual blockade that has endured for over three years.
A series of explosions killed at least 22 people at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Wednesday.
A Riyadh court on Monday sentenced Loujain Alhathloul, a Saudi women’s rights activist, to nearly six years in prison under a terrorism law, state-linked Saudi media reported.
President-elect Joe Biden has made clear in his staffing plans and public remarks that he intends to return America to many of the foreign policy positions championed by his former boss, President Barack Obama.
Comedian and Family Feud host Steve Harvey is currently on a tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to promote tourism to the Gulf state, Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya reported on Thursday, enjoying a traditional performance this week with members of the al-Shehi tribe.
Riyadh — An explosion rocked a Singapore-flagged oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah Monday, the vessel’s owner said, in the latest apparent strike on energy sector targets in the kingdom.
A senior Iranian military commander warned Sunday that U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers in the Persian Gulf will meet a “crushing and fiery response” if they dare to venture near Iran airspace.
