Recent stories from sustg

  • At Davos, Saudi Leaders Discuss Energy, Foreign Policy on World Stage
     

    Saudi government leaders arrived to Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum to meet with other world leaders and discuss key foreign policy and energy challenges facing the Kingdom. The 48th Annual Meeting in Davos will host 3,000 participants across all stakeholder groups including public & private sectors, civil society, academia, media, and arts & culture. The Saudi delegation is led […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Orders $2b ‘Deposit’ to Yemen to Shore Up Currency
     

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered a $2 billion transfer to the Yemeni central bank, according to reports, as the Kingdom looks to shore up the economy of its war-torn southern neighbor. The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information (MoCI) said in a statement that the money is meant “to address the deteriorating economic situation” in Yemen. “All […]

     
  • Yemen’s Houthis Fire Another Ballistic Missile at Riyadh
     

    Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Yemeni rebel missile over Riyadh on Tuesday as residents reported a “loud boom” that shook buildings in the Saudi capital. It was the second Houthi missile attack on Riyadh in the past two months. “Ballistic missile intercepted over Riyadh,” the Coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi rebels said in a statement. […]

     
  • Ambassador Haley Gives Dramatic Presentation of Alleged Iran-Made Weaponry Recovered from Regional Battlefields
     

    US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley made a presentation at Bolling Air Force base in Washington, D.C. to provide evidence that Iran had supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen which were then fired at Saudi Arabia. Department of Defense (DOD) officials accompanied Haley for the presentation, which was made against a dramatic backdrop of broken […]

     
  • Secretary Tillerson Urges More ‘Measured’ Approach for Saudi Arabia in Yemen
     

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is urging Saudi Arabia to be more “measured” in its military intervention in war-ravaged Yemen, a day after President Trump called for the end of the Saudi-led blockade in order to allow for delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments. Tillerson also reiterated Trump’s calls for a “complete end” […]

     
  • Trump Administration, Saudi Government at Odds over Yemen Blockade, Jerusalem Decision
     

    In an unusual public demand of Saudi Arabia, President Trump has called on Saudi leaders to ease the blockade of Yemen to allow for humanitarian aid to assist the war-torn and decimated country. “I have directed officials in my administration to call the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to request that they completely […]

     
  • UAE, Saudi Arabia to form new ‘Joint Cooperation Committee’
     

    The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced it has formed “a new economic and partnership group” that is a “joint cooperation committee” with Saudi Arabia, separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council, in a move that further emphasizes Saudi-UAE alignment amid a diplomatic crisis with member state Qatar. The Emirati Foreign Ministry announcement was made just hours ahead of a […]

     
  • Former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh Killed by Houthi Allies in Major Turning Point
     

    In a major turn in the ongoing civil war in Yemen, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly been killed in fighting against his former allies in the three-year old war, the Iran-aligned Houthi militia. Clashes broke out between fighters allied with the armed Houthi militia and those in Saleh’s General Peoples Congress over the […]

     
  • Second Missile in a Month Launched from Yemen Intercepted by Saudi Military
     

    For the second time in a month, the Saudi military has intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile that was launched from Yemen on Thursday. The missile did not cause any casualties and was headed towards the Saudi city of Khamis Mushait on the Kingdom’s southwestern border, according to reports. Yemen’s Iran-backed armed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the […]

     
  • With Regional Turmoil and Domestic Changes, Resolution of Qatar Crisis Slips in Priority for Saudi Arabia
     

    The emergence of new foreign policy and domestic challenges for Saudi Arabia in recent weeks have taken precedent over resolving the Arab-led embargo of Qatar, according to Saudi Arabia’s leaders, as the United States reportedly has stepped in to support the Kingdom now elsewhere in the region. Exactly one month ago, Secretary of State Rex […]

     

MUST-READS

  • War-weary Yemenis greet Saudi-Iran deal with caution

    On Monday, the Yemeni government and the Houthis announced that they had agreed upon a prisoner swap that would also include the release of 15 captured Saudis. It was not immediately clear whether the timing of the announcement was coincidental or not, but questions remained over any other confidence-building measures on the back of the Beijing deal.

  • Frontline escalation in Yemen war tests months-long calm

    A flare-up of fighting in Yemen's energy-rich Marib province is testing 10 months of relative calm, the longest stretch in an eight-year civil war, under a U.N.-brokered truce deal that lapsed in October but had largely held. Forces of the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, de facto authorities in northern Yemen, launched an attack late on Tuesday into Marib's Harib district, government and military sources and a resident told Reuters. The three sources said there was an unknown number of casualties in the clashes.

  • Iran Agrees to Stop Arming Houthis in Yemen as Part of Pact With Saudi Arabia

    U.S. and Saudi officials said they want to see if Iran holds up its end of the bargain as Tehran and Riyadh proceed with plans outlined in the deal to reopen their respective embassies in two months. The agreement to resume Saudi-Iran relations “gives a boost to the prospect of a [Yemen] deal in the near future,” while Iran’s approach to the conflict will be “kind of a litmus test” for the success of last week’s diplomatic deal, one U.S. official said.

  • Iran Agrees to Stop Arming Houthis in Yemen as Part of Pact With Saudi Arabia

    U.S. and Saudi officials said they want to see if Iran holds up its end of the bargain as Tehran and Riyadh proceed with plans outlined in the deal to reopen their respective embassies in two months. The agreement to resume Saudi-Iran relations “gives a boost to the prospect of a [Yemen] deal in the near future,” while Iran’s approach to the conflict will be “kind of a litmus test” for the success of last week’s diplomatic deal, one U.S. official said.

  • Biggest test of Iran-Saudi deal will be in Yemen

    The Houthis are sticking with their maximalist demands and are likely willing to resume fighting to consolidate control. Some within the movement have already noted that they don't take their orders from Tehran.

  • End To Yemen War, Stability, Top Saudi Aims In Resuming Ties With Iran

    In an interview with London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, bin Farhan emphasized that the agreement announced March 10 in Beijing with Chinese mediation and apparent guarantees, shows a joint desire by Iran and Saudi Arabia to “resolve disputes through communication and dialogue.” He underscored, however, “This does not mean that an agreement has been reached to resolve all pending disputes between them.”

  • End To Yemen War, Stability, Top Saudi Aims In Resuming Ties With Iran

    In an interview with London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, bin Farhan emphasized that the agreement announced March 10 in Beijing with Chinese mediation and apparent guarantees, shows a joint desire by Iran and Saudi Arabia to “resolve disputes through communication and dialogue.” He underscored, however, “This does not mean that an agreement has been reached to resolve all pending disputes between them.”

  • Yemeni southern separatists voice frustration over Saudi-Houthi talks

    Yemen's main southern separatist group on Thursday voiced concern about direct talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement and warned against any deal that goes beyond the parametres of United Nations-led peace efforts. Yemen has been split by an eight-year-old conflict pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis, de facto authorities in North Yemen, against a fractious coalition led by Riyadh, including southern forces backed by the United Arab Emirates.

  • Saudi Yemen reconstruction delegation highlights sustainable development at UN conference in Qatar

    Officials from the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen are taking part in the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries being held in the Qatari capital Doha, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. The program’s General Supervisor Mohammed Al-Jaber was representing the organization as part of the Kingdom’s delegation led by Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim. The conference, running until March 9, aims to accelerate sustainable development in countries that require assistance through an action plan for the next decade.

  • Al Qaeda says top leader killed in strike in Yemen

    AFP reported citing security and local government sources that Hamad bin Hamoud al-Tamimi had been killed. The sources identified him as a top leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The United States regards AQAP among al Qaeda's more dangerous branches. Tamimi, a Saudi also known as Abdel Aziz al-Adnani, died in a drone strike on February 26 that targeted his residence in war-torn Yemen's northern Marib province, according to the statement reported by SITE, which monitors jihadist websites. The statement identified Tamimi as a "media official" who "previously managed external operations in the group, including those striking American interests".