Saudi Arabia

Will Saudi-Iran accord have a domino effect and stabilize the Middle East?

It looks like the bloody war in Yemen, where the Iranians backed the rebel Houthis and Saudi Arabia the internationally recognized government, will come to an end

Saudi, Omani delegation hold peace talks in Yemen with Houthi leaders

Since its outbreak in 2014, the conflict in Yemen has been fought on a battlefield where Riyadh and Tehran have supported opposing parties

Saudi delegation arrives in Yemen to hold ceasefire talk with Houthi rebels

Oman, which borders both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has actively engaged in brokering a truce in Yemen in coordination with the UN peace efforts

Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to reopen embassies, ease air travel norms

Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency says Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to reopen diplomatic missions in their respective capitals and in additional cities. The report says the agreement was reached Thursday during a meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia in Beijing. The agreement also calls for studying the possibility of resuming flights between the two nations and facilitating the visa process for the citizens of both countries. Saudi Arabia and Iran are long-time regional rivals, but have moved toward reconciliation as part of a deal brokered by China last month.

Saudi, Iranian FMs meet in China, signaling warming of ties after 7 years

The foreign ministers of long-time Middle Eastern rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran met in Beijing on Thursday, taking another step toward reconciliation after seven years of tension. The meeting came a month after the two countries agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies by May. The deal was brokered by Beijing. It represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a long war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The rapprochement lowers the chance of armed conflict between the Mideast rivals both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region On Thursday morning, Saudi Arabia's state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV showed Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian shaking hands and sitting side by side. Iran's state TV said the two ministe

Saudi Arabian govt to invest $38 billion to become video-game hub

The fund in February increased its stake in Nintendo to 8.3 per cent, becoming the largest outside shareholder

Saudi Arabia, other OPEC+ producers announce voluntary oil output cuts

The Saudi energy ministry said in a statement that the kingdom's voluntary cut was a precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market

Chemical firm Aether Industries inks pact with Saudi Aramco Technologies

Specialty chemical manufacturer Aether Industries on Thursday said it has entered into a pact with Saudi Aramco Technologies Company to manufacture and commercialise the converge polyols technology and product line. Aether Industries has inked a letter of intent (LoI) with Saudi Aramco Technologies to this effect, according to a statement. Saudi Aramco Technologies and Aether had previously developed and validated this manufacturing process on a pre-commercial scale, Aether Industries aims to generate revenue of Rs 150-200 crore from this agreement. During the last few years, Aether has been working with Aramco on the CRAMS (Contract Research and Manufacturing Services) business model. Aether will take the same products from the CRAMS business model and commercialise and manufacture them under the Exclusive or Contract Manufacturing business model, the company added.

Saudi Arabia signals readiness to provide more credit to Pakistan

Pakistan claimed that it received an indication from Saudi Arabia for additional loans that may help to break gridlock with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

At least 20 Umrah pilgrims killed, 29 injured in Saudi Arabia bus crash

The accident, which occurred due to a brake failure, took place on the road joining Asir province and the city of Abha

We advocate dialogue to resolve differences: India on Iran-Saudi pact

Days after rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a China-brokered agreement to revive diplomatic ties, India on Thursday welcomed the pact saying it has always advocated dialogue and diplomacy to resolve differences. The two countries announced the full-fledged restoration of their diplomatic relations, seven years after severing them following a bitter row. "We have seen the reports in this regard. India has good relations with various countries in West Asia. We have deep abiding interests in that region," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He was asked to comment on the pact. "India has always advocated dialogue and diplomacy as a way to resolve differences," Bagchi said without mentioning China's role. India has been having good relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran. Asked about the next round of China-India military talks, he said there was a commitment by both sides at the last diplomatic dialogue to hold the Corps Commander level talks at an early

With Saudi deals, US, China are now battling for influence in Mideast

In a matter of days, Saudi Arabia carried out blockbuster agreements with the world's two leading powers, signing a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with its arch-nemesis Iran and announcing a massive contract to buy commercial planes from US manufacturer Boeing. The two announcements spurred speculation that the Saudis were laying their marker as a dominant economic and geopolitical force with the flexibility to play Beijing and Washington off each other. They also cast China in an unfamiliar leading role in Middle Eastern politics. And they raised questions about whether the US-Saudi relationship frosty for much of the first two years of President Joe Biden's term has reached a dtente. But as the Biden administration takes stock of the moment, officials are pushing back against the notion that the developments amount to a shift in the dynamics of the US-China competition in the Middle East. The White House scoffs at the idea that the big aircraft deal

Saudi Arabia announces order of up to 121 Boeing airplanes: State media

The newly-formed Riyadh Air said it will buy 39 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with options to acquire 33 more, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Tuesday

Agreement with Saudi Arabia will help end Yemen's war, says Iran

Iran's mission to the United Nations says a breakthrough agreement with Saudi Arabia restoring bilateral relations will help bring a political settlement to Yemen's yearslong war, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies after seven years of tensions that brought the two regional powerhouses to the brink of conflict and fuelled tensions across the region. Soon after exploding in 2014, Yemen's conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government, and Iran, which has aided the country's Houthi rebels. Iran has long been accused by western governments and U.N. experts of providing weapons to the Houthis. Western militaries have repeatedly intercepted Yemen-bound ships carrying Iranian weapons in the Red Sea. Tehran has denied the accusations of arming the Houthis. China mediated the major diplomatic ...

Tunisia welcomes decision as Saudi Arabia, Iran move ahead to resume ties

Tunisia welcomed the decision by Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic ties, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said

Saudi Arabia's deal with Iran worries Israel, shakes up Middle East

The news of the rapprochement between long-time regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran sent shockwaves through the Middle East and struck a symbolic blow for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the threat posed by Tehran a public diplomacy priority and personal crusade. The breakthrough a culmination of more than a year of negotiations in Baghdad and more recent talks in China also became ensnared in Israel's internal politics, reflecting the country's divisions at a moment of national turmoil. The agreement, which gives Iran and Saudi Arabia two months to reopen their respective embassies and re-establish ties after seven years of rupture, more broadly represents one of the most striking shifts in Middle Eastern diplomacy over recent years. In countries like Yemen and Syria, long caught between the Sunni kingdom and the Shiite powerhouse, the announcement stirred cautious optimism. In Israel, it caused disappointment along with a cascade of finger-pointing. O

Amid renewed Iran-Saudi ties, here are nations that could be impacted by it

A deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic ties has wide-reaching effects across the Middle East and beyond, and reduces the chance of armed conflict between regional rivals. Here's a look at some of the countries that could be affected by the deal, struck this week in China: YEMEN: Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are deeply embroiled in Yemen's yearslong civil war. Saudi Arabia entered the conflict in 2015, backing the country's exiled government, while Iran has backed the Houthi rebels who in 2014 seized the capital, Sanaa. Diplomats have been seeking a way to end the conflict, which has spawned one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters and turned into a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran. The Saudi-Iran deal may provide a boost to efforts to end the conflict. LEBANON: Iran long has backed the powerful Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, while Saudi Arabia has backed the country's Sunni politicians. Easing tensions between Riyadh and Tehran could see the two push f

Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to reestablish diplomatic ties with China's help

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions between the Mideast rivals. The major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China lowers the chance of armed conflict between the nations both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People's Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a years long war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The two countries released a joint communique on the deal with China, which brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report the agreement. Iranian state media posted images and video it described as being taken in China of the meeting. It showed Ali Shamkhani, the .

Pakistan seeks assurance from Saudi Arabia to unlock IMF deal: Report

Pakistan is seeking confirmation from Saudi Arabia for securing additional deposits of $2 billion and a %950 million loan programme from the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Tech Mahindra to open its first data, AI and cloud centre in Saudi Arabia

The CoE will combine academic and socio-economic goals to build national hi-tech talent capacity, create quality jobs, promote digital innovation, and upscale SMEs