In the Saudi city of Mecca, dotted with fast food eateries and stalls selling Chinese-made trinkets, vendors are ready to cash in on the annual hajj pilgrimage. "Business is going very well," said Faisal Addais from his stall close to the Grand Mosque -- Islam's holiest site. "The...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed maritime security, Iran and Yemen with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Wednesday. "The secretary discussed heightened tensions in the region and the need for stronger maritime security in order to promote freedom...

China might escort Chinese commercial vessels in Gulf waters under a U.S. proposal for a maritime coalition to secure oil shipping lanes following attacks on tankers, its envoy to the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday. “If there happens to be a very unsafe situation we will consider...

Saudi officials have hailed as “historic” new rights granted to women in Saudi Arabia that further dismantle its heavily criticized guardianship system, but male relatives could still find ways to thwart these freedoms. Thousands of Saudi women took to social media to celebrate royal...

Yemen’s Houthis launched drone attacks on the airports of Abha and Najran, and the King Khalid airbase, in Saudi Arabia, the group’s Al-Masirah TV said on Monday. There was no mention of attacks on Saudi official websites or media. Al Masirah cited a Houthi military spokesman.

The U.N. food agency Sunday said it reached an agreement with Yemen’s rebels to resume food deliveries to rebel-controlled parts of the country after suspending the aid for over a month. The partial suspension of aid to the capital, Sanaa, began in June amid accusations that the Houthi rebels...

Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih discussed oil markets with his Russian counterpart and stressed that Saudi Arabia would continue to comply with production cuts until the end of Q1 2020, he said in a tweet on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia has allowed adult women to travel without permission and granted them more control over family matters, further eroding a heavily criticised male guardianship system at a time of heightened scrutiny over its human rights record. The decisions issued in a series of cabinet...

Yemen’s main southern city of Aden was shaken by double attacks Thursday as a missile fired by rebels hit a military parade and suicide bombers blasted a police station. The attacks killed at least 51 people and wounded dozens, officials said. Most of the dead came from the missile strike,...

The Senate has failed in a bid to override a series of vetoes issued by President Donald Trump, allowing the administration to move forward with plans to sell billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trump's decision to sell the weapons in a way that...

 Saudi Arabia aims to raise the capacity of its east-west pipeline by 40 percent in two years so more of its oil exports can avoid passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the energy minister said Thursday. Khalid al-Falih also told Reuters that importers should, as a first immediate...

President Donald Trump Wednesday vetoed a trio of congressional resolutions aimed at blocking his administration from bypassing Congress and selling billions of dollars in weapons and maintenance support to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month...

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it had sent a crew member of an Iranian ship who was previously evacuated for medical reasons from a vessel off the Yemeni port of Hodeida, to Oman. Iran and Saudi Arabia are arch-adversaries in the Middle East, backing opposite sides in several regional wars...

United Nations aid chief Mark Lowcock called out Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Thursday for only paying a "modest proportion" of the hundreds of millions of dollars they pledged five months ago to a humanitarian appeal for Yemen. Both countries each promised $750 million at a...

The U.S. House of Representatives backed resolutions on Wednesday to block the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, sending them to the White House, where President Donald Trump has promised a veto. Nearly a month after the Senate supported 22...

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said it launched a drone attack on Jizan airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border early Wednesday. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saria said on Facebook the attack disrupted airport operations. There was no immediate comment from...

Britain will send a third warship to the Persian Gulf, though the move is not related to the current Iran crisis, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday. The MoD said HMS Duncan, a type 45 frigate, is transiting to the region to ensure Britain maintains a continuous maritime security...

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to extend its ceasefire observation mission in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida by six months, until January 15 2020. It also called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deploy a full contingent of observers "expeditiously" in the...

Yemen's warring sides have met for the first time in five months to discuss redeployment of forces from the flashpoint port city of Hodeida. Wadah Dabish, a spokesman for the forces loyal to the internationally recognized government, says the meeting took place late Sunday abroad a U.N....

Kuwait’s navy and ports authority will prepare security plans to protect the key OPEC exporter’s ports, state news agency KUNA said on Saturday, amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West. A joint cooperation protocol was signed “at an important period which the region is passing...