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  • Normalization and Displacement: Saudi Arabia and Trump’s Gaza Proposal

    For Saudi Arabia, Palestinian displacement significantly stymies the prospects of normalization. Thus, the two projects are not merely intersecting but fundamentally incompatible. This incompatibility represents one of the potential sources of disagreement with Trump in his second term, alongside his demands for lower oil prices, which conflict with Saudi Arabia’s interest in maintaining high oil prices to fund its domestic needs and Vision 2030 projects. The kingdom is beginning to realize that dealing with Trump in a second term will be more challenging than during his first. Nevertheless, the overall atmosphere between the two sides remains positive. Trump chose Saudi Arabia to host a February 18 US-Russian summit, and Saudi Arabia has avoided any negative remarks about Trump in the current crisis, focusing its criticism on Israel.

  • Saudi crown prince invites leaders of GCC, Jordan, Egypt for informal meeting in Riyadh

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has invited the leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Jordan, and Egypt for a meeting in Riyadh on Friday, an official source stated on Thursday. The informal gathering follows similar meetings that have been held periodically for many years between the leaders of GCC countries, Jordan, and Egypt, enhancing cooperation and coordination. “Joint Arab action and any relevant decisions will be included in the agenda of the upcoming Extraordinary Arab Summit, which will be held in Egypt” on March 4, the source added.

  • Why Is Saudi Arabia Seeking To Mediate A Deal Between U.S. And Iran?

    “Riyadh is looking for a way to address concerns around Iran's nuclear program, as well as its regional activities and its support for proxies,” says Gregory Brew, senior analyst at the U.S.-based Eurasia Group. “Given Riyadh's interest in avoiding an escalation in the Gulf, it probably sees diplomacy as a more effective means of addressing these issues, rather than military action,” he added. “Saudi Arabia's willingness to moderate between Tehran and Washington was not borne of a political vacuum,” said Behnam Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “By stylistically accommodating Tehran through diplomatic normalization but substantively remaining in the Western orbit, Riyadh is hoping to insulate itself from being the place where a larger regional conflict involving Iran is adjudicated.”

  • Prospect of Russia-US deal raises alarm in Iran’s pro-reform camp

    In Iran, pro-reform and moderate media are expressing deep concern about the Saudi-brokered talks between Russia and the US. Many fear that Iran could become a bargaining chip in a potential deal between Moscow and Washington, with Tehran’s interests sidelined in favor of broader geopolitical agreements.

  • Reconstruction and rivalries: What to expect from Saudi Arabia’s Gaza summit

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to host leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in Riyadh on Friday to discuss the Egyptian proposal. Just because Trump has warmed up to an Arab post-war plan for Gaza and is keen on Gulf cash does not mean the crown prince and his counterparts have it easy. The Egyptian plan, which has now been widely reported, calls, unsurprisingly, for Palestinians to stay in the Gaza Strip. They would live in mobile housing while debris is cleared away and reconstruction begins. The main sticking point is who will pay for reconstruction and temporary housing. Analysts and diplomats have speculated that Trump’s call for the US to take over the enclave without paying for it was a ploy to get oil-rich Gulf states to foot the bill. More than $50bn will be required to rebuild Gaza, a joint assessment provided by the United Nations, European Union and World Bank on Tuesday said. At least $20bn will be required in the first three years. Asked in an interview in January if Saudi Arabia would fund Gaza’s reconstruction, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK, said: “To reconstruct a Palestinian state, yes. To reconstruct a territory that the Israelis might destroy again in a matter of years, I don’t think that would be a sensible thing to do.”

  • Hamas says it is investigating possible error over hostage body

    Hamas said on Friday it was investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under a ceasefire deal as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas. Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons Kfir and Ariel on Thursday, along with the remains of a fourth hostage under the ceasefire deal that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month. Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed. But Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

  • Arab states scramble to counter Trump’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ plan

    Arab states who were swift to reject President Donald Trump's plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and resettle its Palestinians are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea, five sources told Reuters. Trump's plan, announced on February 4 during a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has infuriated the Palestinians and Arab countries and upended decades of U.S. diplomacy focused on a two-state solution.  But Arab states trying to devise an alternative plan have yet to tackle critical issues like who will foot the bill for Gaza's reconstruction -- estimated by the U.N. at more than $50 billion -- or how the Strip will be governed, according to sources familiar with diplomatic discussions ahead of the meeting. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Leaders of Gulf Arab countries plus Egypt and Jordan are due to meet later on Friday in Riyadh for what Saudi Arabia said would be an unofficial meeting within the framework of "close brotherly relations".

  • Tiger Woods joins another White House meeting as PGA Tour moves closer to Saudi deal

    Tiger Woods joined PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott in a second White House meeting Thursday with President Donald Trump, another sign the sport is moving rapidly toward ending the division brought on by Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the financial muscle behind the rival league, also was part of the meeting. The tour said it would share more details when appropriate, adding: “We are committed to moving as quickly as possible.” “We share a passion for the game and the importance of reunification,” the statement said. “Most importantly, we all want the best players in the world playing together more often and are committed to doing all we can to deliver that outcome for our fans.”

  • Chess: Carlsen wins again as he qualifies for the $1.5m Saudi Esports World Cup

    Magnus Carlsen’s dominance of online chess has continued this week as the world No 1 is in pole position for the concluding stages of the Chessable Masters, the first leg of the annual Champions Tour which the Norwegian has won every year since it was launched in 2020. For 2025, the tour is also a qualifier for the Esports World Cup at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July-August, where the chess prize fund will be $1.5m.

  • Trump hails Saudi Arabia at investment event in Miami

    This was the first time a US president has spoken at the Miami event. Elon Musk, who co-heads Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, was also there. As part of an increasingly high-profile relationship with the United States under President Trump, earlier this week Saudi Arabia hosted talks between the US and Russian foreign ministers aimed at paving the way for a resolution to the Ukraine war. In late January, during the first phone call Trump held with a foreign leader after returning to the White House, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, pledged $600 billion of trade and investment in the US over Trump’s four-year term.