Page 24 - Saudi Arabia

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

We will resume talks soon to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia: Iranian FM

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on Sunday at a joint press conference with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani following their meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran

Iran's exports to S Arabia see rapid growth in 2022 amid detente: Report

Iran's exports to Saudi Arabia have increased dramatically in 2022 amid the two countries' efforts to ease tensions

Ronaldo signs deal with Saudi club, becomes highest-paid footballer ever

The UK's Sun newspaper said the 37-year-old Portugal striker would earn more than $200 million a year

Saudi Arabia, Australia ask citizens in Pakistan to limit movement

The warnings came a day after the US embassy stopped its staff from visiting the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad due to fears of an attack

Baghdad mediated talks with Iran reported stalled over protests in Iran

Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because of Tehran claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the mass anti-government protests underway in Iran, multiple Iraqi officials said. The talks had been lauded as a breakthrough that would ease regional tensions. Iraq's new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month after taking office that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating the dialogue. However, an anticipated sixth round of talks, to be hosted by Baghdad, has not been scheduled because Tehran refuses to meet with Saudi officials as protests in Iran enter a fourth month, according to the Iraqi officials. The Iranian-Saudi negotiations have stalled, and this will have a negative impact on the region, said Amer al-Fayez, an Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee. On his first official visit to Tehran in November, al-Sudani ..

Israel's Netanyahu set to return to office, eyes deal with Saudi Arabia

Israel's designated prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to seek full diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia once he takes office, claiming that doing so would also promote peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu also said he would be open to restarting behind-the-scenes peace talks with the Palestinians. The comments, made in a rare interview with an Arab news outlet, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel, appeared to be aimed at easing concerns over the far-right makeup of the government that Netanyahu is forming. He has already reached a series of coalition agreements with hard-liners who favour tougher action against Palestinian militants, increased settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and vehemently reject the idea of an independent Palestinian state. Netanyahu told the channel that he will set overall policies. I will govern and I will lead, he said. The other parties are joining me. I'm not joining them. Netanyahu said he hoped to expand the Ab

Saudi welcomes China's controversial tech giant Huawei, ignores US concerns

The China-Saudi deal came a little after the US recently imposed a ban on approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE, citing national security risks

Fifa World Cup 2022: A tournament of underdogs and major upsets in Qatar

Fifa World Cup 2022, Qatar: The tournament has seen a lot of upsets, and Morocco has been the best team that has upset many big teams in the world.

Pakistan urgently seeks $3 bn from Saudi Arabia after dip in forex reserves

Pakistan has requested Saudi Arabia to urgently provide $3 billion in cash after its foreign exchange reserves fell to a critically low level

As West Asia looks beyond America, Xi may be headed to Saudi Arabia

Xi will visit Saudi Arabia from Dec. 7-9, when he will take part in a regional summit with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Arab leaders

China's Xi Jinping visiting Saudi Arabia in bid to boost economic growth

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is attending a pair of regional summits in Saudi Arabia this week amid efforts to kick-start economic growth weighed down by strict anti-COVID-19 measures. The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Xi will attend the inaugural China-Arab States Summit and a meeting with leaders of the six nations that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. His state visit to Saudi Arabia will end on Saturday. China is the world's second largest economy and a major source of outward investment. To fuel massive demand, it imports half its oil, of which half of those imports come from Saudi Arabia, amounting to tens of billions of dollars annually. China's economic growth had been on a steady decline for years and was dealt a major blow by rolling lockdowns imposed across the country as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese economic growth rebounded to 3.9 per cent over a year earlier in the three months ending in September, up from th