Saudi Arabia

A US federal court has held Iran responsible for the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia where US forces were housed, and ordered it to pay $879 million to survivors. The Khobar Towers was a housing complex in the eastern city of Alkhobar, near the Abdulaziz Air …

An investigator for the U.N. Human Rights Council urged member states on Thursday to pressure Saudi Arabia to free women activists before a G20 nations summit which Riyadh will be hosting in November. At least a dozen prominent women’s rights activists were arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2018 as it …

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said it destroyed two explosive-laden boats in the Red Sea, Saudi state TV reported on Thursday. The two remotely controlled boats were threatening navigation, the coalition said. They were destroyed south of the Yemeni port of Salif, it added. …

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had completed the first batch of its flour milling sector privatisation, according to a statement by the state grain buyer and privatisation centre. The long-awaited flour mills sale was one of the first privatisations the kingdom planned as part of a wide-reaching overhaul of …

Qassim Gov. Prince Faisal bin Mishaal on Sunday inaugurated the world’s biggest camel hospital in Buraidah. The Salam Veterinary Hospital will also have a modern research facility to diagnose diseases related to camels. The governor said the project worth SR100 million is a national achievement and it will help enhance …

Britain’s first sanctions will target 25 Russian nationals it says were involved in the mistreatement and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and 20 Saudi nationals held to be involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the foreign ministry said on Monday. Addressing parliament, foreign minister Dominic Raab said: “The …

06 Jul 2020 This story first appeared as an MEI Insight A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox. Resolving the tug of war in the Middle East will require a backing away from approaches that treat conflicts as zero-sum games, and engagement by all regional and external players. …

A Turkish court put 20 Saudi officials on trial in absentia on Friday for the gruesome killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi which sparked international outrage and tarnished the image of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler. Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 when he went …

A Saudi-led coalition has started a military operation against Yemen’s Houthi movement after it stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, Saudi state television reported on Wednesday. In Yemen, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported air strikes on the capital Sanaa, Marib, al-Jouf, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Saada provinces …

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Tuesday a UN report confirming Iranian involvement in attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities in September 2019. A foreign ministry statement said the findings of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report “leaves no doubt for the international community about Iran’s hostile intentions towards the …

Saudi Arabia forced three Iranian boats to retreat from its waters on Thursday after firing warning shots, a spokesman for Saudi boarder guards said on Saturday. The spokesman, quoted by Saudi news agency SPA, said the Iranian vessels refused to stop after they entered Saudi waters despite repeated warnings, which …

By James M. Dorsey   China was quick to aid coronavirus-stricken Sri Lanka. Chinese magnanimity and speed in responding to the Indian Ocean island’s request contrasted starkly with Beijing’s more measured response to Africa’s needs, widely expected to be the pandemic’s next hotspot. Geography was but one reason why China …

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and southern separatist forces have agreed on a ceasefire and will begin talks in Saudi Arabia on implementing a peace deal, the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday. The government, based in the southern port of Aden, and the separatists are nominal allies in the Saudi-led coalition, which …

Southern separatists have seized control of Yemen’s island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, deposing its governor and driving out forces of the Saudi-backed government which condemned the action as coup. The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self rule in the south in April, complicating U.N. efforts to forge a …

Saudi Arabia has proposed a framework to end the latest standoff in southern Yemen between nominal allies under a Saudi-led coalition, three sources said, as violence escalates with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the north of the country. Previous clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), …

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition fighting in Yemen asked the United Nations on Tuesday to share details of its accusations that the coalition was responsible for 222 child deaths or injuries last year so it could investigate. In a statement, the coalition also said it welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday removed a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition from a United Nations blacklist, several years after it was first named and shamed for killing and injuring children in Yemen. The coalition killed or injured 222 children in Yemen last year, Guterres wrote in his annual report …

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Saturday it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile targeting the Saudi Arabian border city of Najran. In a statement issued via the Saudi Arabian state news agency, the coalition said that the missile was fired from the Yemeni city of Saada, …

Cruise missiles used in several attacks on oil facilities and an international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of “Iranian origin,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. Guterres also said several items in U.S. seizures of weapons and related …

A U.S. State Department inspector general fired by President Donald Trump told lawmakers the department discouraged him from investigating arms sales to Saudi Arabia before he was dismissed last month, according to a transcript released Wednesday. The inspector general, Steve Linick, was fired on May 15, the latest in a …

Spain’s supreme court prosecutor has opened an investigation into former King Juan Carlos as part of a probe into a high-speed train contract in Saudi Arabia, the general prosecutor said in a statement on Monday. The supreme court’s prosecutor will investigate whether the former king can be included in the …

Iraq affirmed its commitment to the OPEC+ oil production cut deal but asked the group to take into consideration the members’ economic situation in sharing the burden of future cuts, Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi said on Sunday. “We are seeking to set new rules in future over sharing burden …

OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia have agreed a preliminary deal to extend existing record oil output cuts by one month while raising pressure on countries with poor compliance to deepen their cuts, OPEC+ sources told Reuters. However, there was no agreement yet on whether to hold an OPEC+ …

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations are facing their worst economic crisis in history amid the double shock of plunging oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said. Overall real gross domestic product (GDP) will contract 4.4% this year, despite some indications that the …

Saudi Arabian police in Assir, a region close to the Yemeni border, are investigating after a shooting incident in which six citizens died on Tuesday, state-run news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. Three Saudis were also injured and taken to hospital, it said, giving no details on the nature of …

Iraq and Saudi Arabia agreed on Saturday to continue working to re-balance markets and stressed their commitment to output cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies, Saudi state news agency SPA said. The comments came after Iraq’s Finance Minister Ali Allawi, who is …

President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he sought Linick’s removal because his work was undermining the department. Trump announced the planned removal …

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has bought minority stakes in major American companies including Boeing (BA.N), Facebook (FB.O) and Citigroup (C.N), according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The $300 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been buying minority stakes in companies across the world, taking advantage of market weakness in …

The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw Patriot anti-missile defense batteries from Saudi Arabia is likely to fuel an already brewing arms race as the kingdom attempts to catch-up with Iran’s nuclear development as well as its space, ballistic missile, and drone capabilities. By James M. Dorsey One thing is certain, …

People all around the globe are currently directly, or indirectly, affected by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The Levant News publishes voices from a wide variety of people with different backgrounds. After stories from the Netherlands, Lebanon and Italy today Mohammed Hussein Aldosari writes from Saudi Arabia. The Covid-19 crisis and …

Yemeni authorities declared Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, an “infested” city on Monday after the number of coronavirus cases there jumped and clashes erupted elsewhere in the south between separatists and government forces. A five-year war has shattered Yemen’s health system, pushed millions to the brink of famine …

Saudi Arabia’s government is suspending the cost of living allowance and raising the value added tax (VAT) threefold, as part of measures aimed to shore up state finances, which have been battered by low oil prices and the coronavirus. “Cost of living allowance will be suspended as of June first, …

Saudi Aramco is looking to restructure its deal to acquire a controlling stake in petrochemicals maker SABIC after a more than 40% drop in SABIC’s value following a slump in oil prices in coronavirus pandemic, two sources told Reuters. Aramco last year agreed to buy a 70% stake in Saudi …

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced that the terrorist Iran-backed Houthi militias fired on Tuesday morning two ballistic missiles from Yemen’s Sanaa province. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said Tuesday the Houthis launched the missiles from residential areas. One rocket crashed 121 kilometers away, in the Amran province, and the second, …

The U.S. Departments of State and Energy should commit to regular briefings to relevant committees in Congress on talks about nuclear power cooperation with Saudi Arabia, a congressional watchdog said in a report on Monday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said Congress should consider amending the 1954 Atomic Energy …

Saudi Arabia’s central bank foreign reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest since 2011, while the kingdom slipped into a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter as oil revenues collapsed. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is …

It is early days, but first indications are that the global pandemic is entrenching long-drawn Middle Eastern geopolitical, political, ethnic, and sectarian battle lines rather than serving as a vehicle to build bridges and build confidence. By James M. Dorsey The coronavirus crisis is also changing the region’s political landscape …

Saudi Arabia is exploring re-routing millions of barrels of oil onboard tankers sailing to the United States if President Donald Trump decides to block imports of crude from the kingdom, shipping and trade sources say. Some 40 million barrels of Saudi oil are on their way to the United States …

President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration was considering the possibility of stopping incoming Saudi Arabian crude oil shipments as a measure to support the battered domestic drilling industry. “Well, I’ll look at it,” Trump told reporters at a daily news conference after he was asked about requests …

Behind a Saudi-Russian truce to stabilise oil markets with a record output cut, market players are seeing the two production heavyweights still trading blows in the physical market. The rivals said last week they were ready to take measures if necessary to balance the market by cutting combined output with …

Iran will give a decisive response to any mistake by the United States in the Gulf, the Revolutionary Guards navy said in a statement published on the Guards’ news site Sepah News. The U.S. military said on Wednesday that 11 vessels from the Revolutionary Guards navy had come dangerously close …

Saudi Aramco has offered oil refineries in Asia and Europe the option to defer payments for crude cargo deliveries by up to 90 days as plants struggle with shrinking demand, four refining industry sources said. The credit terms, which Saudi Arabia’s national oil company has offered through unidentified Saudi banks, …

Saudi Arabia and other oil producers in the OPEC+ group pushed back on Friday on a Mexican plan to cut less than requested under plans for global supply curbs, two sources from the OPEC+ group said on Friday. One source said the dispute, which held up efforts to finalise the …

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Friday that a final OPEC+ oil supply pact to reduce 10 million barrels per day (bpd), which was agreed on Thursday, hinges on Mexico joining in the cuts. OPEC, Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, outlined plans on Thursday to cut …