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  • Secretary of State Pompeo Kicks Off 8-Nation Middle East Tour
     

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo begins a weeklong tour of eight Arab nations in the Middle East through Jan. 15, including a visit to Saudi Arabia. The Secretary’s schedule will take him to Amman, Cairo, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Muscat, and Kuwait City. Pompeo will give a major speech about America’s role in the region and privately […]

     
  • Oil Posts Biggest Weekly Gain Since December 2016
     

    Brent crude headed for its biggest weekly gain since December 2016 after several months of price falls as Saudi Arabia’s production cuts outweighed concerns over the health of the global economy, according to reports. The weekly gain – nearly 9% on the Brent crude index – follows three weeks of losses and its worst quarter in […]

     
  • Saudi Government ‘Rejects’ U.S. Senate Rulings on Saudi Arabia But Pledges to Continue Building Relationship
     

    The government of Saudi Arabia issued a statement condemning a recent U.S. Senate resolution blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and said the government rejects external interference in its affairs. The Senate measure, which passed in a rare bipartisan vote with unanimous approval on Thursday, was a sweeping condemnation of Crown […]

     
  • Breakthrough Ceasefire Agreements Reached over Yemen Ports as U.S. Senate Rebukes Trump
     

    The internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement agreed to a ceasefire around the city of Hodeidah and to remove troops from the area in a potential major turning point for the three year old conflict, according to reports. The agreement was reached at U.N.-brokered talks in Sweden. The port, which is currently under Houthi control, […]

     
  • In Dhahran, Energy Secretary Perry, Al-Falih Discuss Oil Markets, Nuclear Possibilities
     

    U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry held a round of talks with Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih and Aramco CEO Amin Nasser as well other energy industry figures in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, according to reports. The top energy officials from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia discussed oil markets and nuclear power possibilities. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih […]

     
  • Significant Step Taken in U.S.-Saudi THAAD Missile Deal
     

    A personal call between President Donald Trump and King Salman Saudi Arabia helped to finalize an agreement in which the Kingdom will buy Lockheed Martin’s $15 billion THAAD missile defense system, according to reports. The U.S. State Department said the Saudis and U.S. officials signed letters of offer and acceptance documents on Monday, formalizing terms for Saudi’s […]

     
  • Senate Set to Vote On Measure to End U.S. Support Saudi Arabia in Yemen as Pompeo Pens Op-Ed Touting ‘Vital Partnership’
     

    The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on legislation as early as Wednesday that would end U.S. involvement in the Saudi Arabia-backed war in Yemen, as the Trump Administration continues to publicly express support for the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Politico reports that the bill introduced by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “has gained support since […]

     
  • Donald Trump Affirms Solidarity with Saudi Arabia in Written Statement as Top Senators Vow Further Action
     

    President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to remain a ‘steadfast partner’ of Saudi Arabia despite saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have known about the plan to murder dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month. “This is an unacceptable and horrible crime,” President Trump said in the statement, but added, “our relationship is with […]

     
  • Trump Taps Gen. John Abizaid as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
     

    President Trump has selected Retired Four-Star General John Abizaid to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. An experienced military leader who retired from the U.S. Army in 2007 after 34 years of service, Gen. Abizaid was head of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). At the time of his retirement, Abizaid was the longest serving commander […]

     
  • Sec. Mattis, Saudi FM Al-Jubeir Meet; U.S. Calls for ‘Transparent Investigation’
     

    U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that he has met with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, and called for a “transparent investigation” into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, according to reports. Mattis said he met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir during a conference in Bahrain on Saturday and discussed […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi PIF buys shares in Alphabet, Zoom and Microsoft in U.S. shopping spree

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought shares in Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Zoom Video (ZM.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) as part of a wider pick of U.S. stocks, bringing the market value of the sovereign wealth fund's investment portfolio to about $40.8 billion at the end of the second quarter. The PIF acquired 213,000 class A shares in Alphabet, 4.7 million class A shares in Zoom and 1.8 million shares in Microsoft, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.

  • Opinion: Why Most U.S. Muslims I Know Are Feeling a Growing Sense of Dread

    In the past few weeks, most Muslims I know, including me, have felt a growing sense of dread about the news of the killings of four Muslims since November — Aftab Hussein, 41; Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27; Mohammad Zahir Ahmadi, 62; and Naeem Hussain, 25 — in the Albuquerque area. Their deaths didn’t feel random or unconnected. We learned that three of the four men were Shiite Muslims.

  • Saudi PIF buys shares in Alphabet, Zoom and Microsoft in U.S. shopping spree

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought shares in Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Zoom Video (ZM.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) as part of a wider pick of U.S. stocks, bringing the market value of the sovereign wealth fund's investment portfolio to about $40.8 billion at the end of the second quarter.

  • Saudi PIF buys shares in Alphabet, Zoom and Microsoft in U.S. shopping spree

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought shares in Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Zoom Video (ZM.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) as part of a wider pick of U.S. stocks, bringing the market value of the sovereign wealth fund's investment portfolio to about $40.8 billion at the end of the second quarter.

  • As U.S. Seeks to Close Guantánamo, Saudi Center Could Be Option

    The beneficiaries of the Saudi government program, which helps prisoners re-enter society, were on furlough for family visits for Eid al-Adha, the season of the Feast of the Sacrifice, leaving the place eerily empty, like a U.S. college campus on Christmas break. Only a painting in the gallery offered a glimpse of the religious tolerance that is a hallmark of the program: It was of a woman smelling a flower, her hair uncovered and flowing, against the night sky. The program, with its campus in Riyadh, and another in Jeddah, grew from a counterterrorism campaign that began in 2004 to re-educate citizens who had made their way home from jihadist training camps in Afghanistan and others influenced by them.

  • U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Lenderking’s Travel to the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia

    U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia starting August 11, while members of his team travel to Jordan, as part of our vigorous diplomatic efforts to help secure an expansion of the UN-mediated truce and bolster peace efforts.  The Special Envoy and his team will focus on helping meaningfully expand benefits of the truce to all Yemenis and pave the way for a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive, durable Yemeni-led resolution to the conflict.  Special Envoy Lenderking will also discuss recent instability in Shabwa and the need for a return to calm.

  • U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Lenderking’s Travel to the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia

    U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia starting August 11, while members of his team travel to Jordan, as part of our vigorous diplomatic efforts to help secure an expansion of the UN-mediated truce and bolster peace efforts.  The Special Envoy and his team will focus on helping meaningfully expand benefits of the truce to all Yemenis and pave the way for a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive, durable Yemeni-led resolution to the conflict.  Special Envoy Lenderking will also discuss recent instability in Shabwa and the need for a return to calm.

  • U.S. charges Iranian in plot to murder ex-Trump adviser John Bolton

    The Justice Department alleged that Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, was likely motivated to kill Bolton in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in a U.S. drone strike in January 2020.

  • U.S. and Iran Weighing ‘Final’ E.U. Offer on Nuclear Deal

    In a notable shift, Iran has retreated from two key demands. One is an insistence that the United States remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from its official list of foreign terrorist organizations, according to people briefed on the negotiations and two Iranians familiar with the talks.

  • U.S. sour crude cargo sails to Germany as Russia sanctions bite

    A tanker of U.S. sour crude was delivered at Germany's port of Rostock last week for the first time ever, according to sources, analysts and vessel tracking data, as local refiners test alternatives to Russian oil. The European Union plans an almost-complete embargo of Russian barrels by year-end, and is trying to wean itself off Russian crude imports, which have fed inland refineries in Germany, Poland and other central European nations via pipeline.