saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia Open Meeting of New Alliance for Palestinian Statehood

Saudi Arabia is on Wednesday expected to open the first meeting of a new "international alliance" to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, state media said. The "International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution" was unveiled last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Saudi state media reported at the time, ...

Saudi ‘Davos in the Desert’ Opens With Region on War Footing

Global business leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a glitzy investor forum as conflict shakes the region and scepticism mounts over the Gulf kingdom's most ambitious development projects. The Future Investment Initiative (FII) debuted in 2017 as a showcase for de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's dream of diversifying ...

Saudi and Pakistani Relief Flights Arrive in Lebanon

In a continuing show of international support, Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport received Saudi and Pakistani relief planes loaded with essential humanitarian supplies on Sunday. The fourteenth Saudi aid plane carried food, shelter, and medical supplies operated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, thus reinforcing ...

Gebran: Give Back the Missile!

In challenging times, men are put to the test. Gebran Bassil didn’t even wait for the customary forty days after Hassan Nasrallah’s death to turn against him. He abandoned the man who was instrumental in General Michel Aoun’s rise to the presidency—the one who supported him significantly after the July war, sacrificing greatly for the Free ...

Blinken Heads to Qatar, a Key Mediator, to Push for Gaza Truce

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to key Hamas mediator Qatar on Thursday, seeking momentum to end the Gaza war following Israel's killing of the group's leader. Two days after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken flew from Saudi Arabia to the Qatari capital, Doha, to assess Hamas's position on a ...

Blinken Pushes for Saudi-Israel Deal Despite Regional Wars

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday to promote potential normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, ahead of a meeting in London on Friday with Arab foreign ministers regarding the wars in the Middle East. Before departing Tel Aviv for Riyadh, Blinken urged Israel to seize the “incredible opportunity” to ...

Iran's Foreign Minister Says its Neighbours Won't Let Israel Use Airspace

Iran's neighbors have pledged not to allow the use of their "soil or airspace" for any attacks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday, as Israel considers retaliation for the Islamic Republic's missile strike. "All our neighbors have assured us that they won't permit their soil or airspace to be used against the Islamic Republic of ...

Israeli-Iranian Conflict: The Strait of Hormuz as a Pressure Tactic

Iran may have to resort to a strategic tool: control of the Strait of Hormuz. According to several analyses, this tactic could be as devastating as a nuclear weapon. However, unlike a nuclear weapon, whose use would bring catastrophic consequences for Iran itself, the threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz serves as a form of "asymmetric ...

Brussels Summit on Middle East Tensions Brings Together Gulf and EU Leaders

Gulf leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gather with EU heads of state and government in Brussels Wednesday for a summit aimed at averting a "general conflagration" in the Middle East. The 27-nation European Union is seeking to work more closely with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, ...

Beirut Welcomes Humanitarian Aid From Gulf States

Lebanon continues to receive much-needed humanitarian aid from several countries as it grapples with a worsening crisis and escalation of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia The second plane from Saudi Arabia's relief air bridge to Lebanon arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Monday, carrying 30 tons of ...

Iranian Foreign Minister in Qatar, After Saudi, as Israel Threatens Retaliation

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Qatari counterpart in Doha on Thursday, his spokesman said, after Israel warned it would retaliate against his country for last week's missile attack. Qatar has played a key role in efforts to secure an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and has called for a truce in Lebanon, where Israel has escalated last ...