Senior Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials held talks in Tehran on Monday to stop the war from reigniting. Meanwhile CNN reports US forces could strike Iran within 96 hours of an order.
Geopolitics
Egypt's parliament approved military aid for Riyadh on Monday, while the Houthis claimed new strikes on Saudi targets. The Saudi-led coalition says it hit Houthi missile sites.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia reopened two terminals at Riyadh's main airport on Sunday while the Houthis fired more missiles and drones. The Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted them.
Geopolitics
Brent eased from a six-month high on Monday. IEA chief Fatih Birol sees no normalisation of energy markets before 2027.
Economy
US ambassador Tom Barrack says Washington could "absolutely" strike Iran this weekend, while Trump stays open to a deal. Tehran warns of an "apocalyptic war".
Geopolitics
Houthi media say Saudi strikes killed 11 to 17 people in Houthi-held areas on Saturday. The Houthis claim attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites, while Riyadh reports intercepting missiles.
Geopolitics
Fuel costs from the Iran war keep airfares high, while oil stocks are depleted. Iran's president says many people in the country struggle to get food.
Economy
European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul warned that renewed US-Israeli strikes on Iran would widen the war. A Trump envoy, Mike Waltz, said Washington is ready for a long stand-off, the Financial Times reports.
Geopolitics
Houthi missiles and drones hit Saudi military, energy and airport targets, and airlines keep suspending flights. In Yemen, 800,000 people are cut off in besieged Taiz.
Geopolitics
Brent crude touched $117.45 on Friday, its highest in nearly six months, on fears of renewed US strikes on Iran and Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia. European gas storage is far below normal heading into winter.
Economy
Houthi attacks hit a Saudi airport and an oil field this week. Aramco and Washington both scaled back their presence in the kingdom.
Geopolitics
Brent rose above $110 on Gulf escalation fears, and global stocks fell on Thursday.
Economy
The Houthis claimed a third strike in a week on Aden on Wednesday. The US ordered non-emergency embassy staff and families out of Saudi Arabia.
Geopolitics
Brent eased from a five-month high as Middle East oil exports returned to prewar levels via alternative routes. Washington is lending heating oil and diesel from its reserves ahead of the midterms.
Economy
Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia signed a defence cooperation memorandum in Doha on Wednesday. Turkey's ruling party also plans a mandate to send military personnel to Saudi Arabia.
Geopolitics
Iraq closed the Sheeb border crossing with Iran on Wednesday for urgent security reasons, Reuters reports, citing sources. According to a portal cited by TASS, Iraqi authorities believe Iran was involved in the strike on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline and imported drone components into border areas.
Geopolitics
Britain announced on Tuesday that RAF Typhoons will fly defensive missions over Saudi Arabia. The death toll from Monday's Houthi strike on a Yemeni government camp has risen to 73.
Geopolitics
Brent touched $112 on Tuesday before easing, and European gas reached its highest since late 2022.
Economy
The text of the Mecca Defense Alliance, sent by the Foreign Ministry, was presented to the Turkish parliament on Tuesday for ratification. According to TASS, Erdogan's ruling party says the agreement is not an alternative to NATO and is open to other countries.
Geopolitics
A US judge refused to release Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi engineer arrested earlier this month. Le Monde reports that he is accused of hiding a recorder in a meeting room at the AI company OpenAI.
Technology
Houthi ballistic missiles hit a Yemeni government training camp on Monday, the deadliest single strike since fighting reignited in September. Egypt delayed a vote on backing Saudi Arabia.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia has postponed its Future Investment Initiative, known as 'Davos in the Desert', after Houthi attacks, Reuters and the New York Times report on Monday. The event, a centerpiece of the kingdom's push to diversify its economy, was due to begin next week, and Bloomberg reports that Riyadh airport has restricted jet traffic.
Economy
US prosecutors say Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer accused of planting a device, has "considerable support from a foreign government" and should stay in detention, according to the Financial Times. The New York Times reports, citing a court filing, that a Saudi military official paid for his wife and infant son to leave the US a day after his arrest.
Technology
Houthi missiles and drones keep hitting Saudi Arabia, and Egypt says it is ready to support the kingdom's defence. Riyadh has reported its first military deaths.
Geopolitics
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two loaded supertankers caught fire after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The Guards also declared the strait closed.
Geopolitics
Houthi forces have encircled Taiz and hit Aden's airport while attacking Saudi Arabia. Egypt and the UAE are moving to support Riyadh.
Geopolitics
Houthi missiles hit the government's palace in Aden on Thursday, killing five. The group is closing in on Taiz while its attacks on Saudi Arabia continue.
Geopolitics
Houthi missiles hit the government's palace complex in Aden on Thursday, while strikes on Saudi Arabia continue.
Geopolitics
G20 and G7 finance ministers met in Bangkok while the Iran war's energy shock feeds into bond yields and fuel supply. The IMF names a prolonged war as the biggest risk for the Middle East.
Economy
The EU-Gulf summit in Riyadh has been postponed amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, The National reports. The FIFAe Finals in Jeddah and the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament were also postponed, and the AFC president says the Asian Cup, due to start in January, could be moved by a year.
Geopolitics
US prosecutors say in a court filing that Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan, accused of bugging a conference room at OpenAI, had booked a one-way trip to Saudi Arabia. According to the filing, he was due to fly out earlier this month.
Technology
Houthi missiles damaged Saudi Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran on Tuesday night. The group says attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites will continue.
Geopolitics
Fighting in Yemen is overwhelming hospitals and cutting food aid, relief agencies warn, as Houthi forces press toward Taiz.
Geopolitics
The FBI has charged a Saudi OpenAI engineer with using a hidden recording device in one of the company's San Francisco offices, according to statements from OpenAI reported on Wednesday. According to the FBI complaint, the thumb-sized device had a microphone, could connect to a camera and was concealed in toilet paper.
Technology
The Saudi-led coalition struck oil facilities around Sanaa on Tuesday after an evacuation warning. The Houthis answered with missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh and Dhahran.
Geopolitics
OPEC again cut its 2026 oil demand growth forecast to 0.2 million barrels per day, putting demand at 105.72 million bpd, according to its October report. TASS reports that OPEC+ output rose by 956,000 bpd in September, or 977,000 bpd for seven member countries, with Saudi Arabia posting the largest increase, while Politika puts Brent near $106 amid new Middle East risks.
Economy
Saudi Arabia extended the closure of Riyadh's King Khalid airport until Saturday after repeated Houthi strikes. Iran has offered to mediate.
Geopolitics
A Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid airport on Saturday killed at least 12 and wounded more than 300, and a second attack followed on Sunday. The Saudi-led coalition promised a firm response, while airlines and regulators pull back.
Geopolitics
A missile hit Riyadh's King Khalid airport on Saturday, the third attack there this week. Trump says the US may join Saudi strikes on the Houthis.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that three of its citizens, including a pilot, died in two Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid airport a day earlier. The UN envoy for Yemen told the Security Council the country has returned to full-scale war.
Geopolitics
The UAE attorney general said on Friday that the Omani co-pilot who tried to seize a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight meant to crash it into a Ben Gurion airport terminal. The suspect says he acted alone.
Geopolitics
The Houthis claimed a third attack on Riyadh's airport on Thursday, after earlier strikes on Saudi airports killed three people. The Saudi-led coalition vows punishment.
Geopolitics
The World Bank forecasts that the Middle East economy will shrink 2.1% in 2026 and Gulf economies 4.3%, the Jerusalem Post reports. Asian states are building oil buffers in response to the Iran war, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE joining a Japan-led push, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.
Economy
Three foreign nationals died in attacks on the Riyadh and Abha airports, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on Wednesday. The Houthis claimed the strikes and also hit Aden's airport.
Geopolitics
The UN migration agency says more than 200,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen since fighting escalated, up from 76,000 in mid-September. About 3,700 have crossed the sea to Djibouti.
Geopolitics
Turkey is sending mainly defensive and technical support to Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, two officials said on Wednesday. Syria denied reports that it may join.
Geopolitics
New Zealand authorities have launched their own investigation as the alleged hijacker's training there comes under scrutiny: Hamam al-Hammami spent 175 days in the country until May 2019, The Guardian reports. Reuters reports, citing sources, that Saudi Arabia has opened an air safety probe, while the Jerusalem Post says police are examining aviation security failures at the Transport Ministry.
Geopolitics
Yemen's government says it pushed the Houthis back near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which the Houthis deny. The Houthis meanwhile struck Saudi airports.
Geopolitics
Oil exports from the Gulf are back near 80% of prewar levels, according to Shell's chief executive. Iran keeps attacking ships in Hormuz, and Western stockpiles are nearly spent.
Economy
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey invoked their Mecca defence pact on Monday, citing Houthi attacks. Neither the size nor the role of the forces has been disclosed.
Geopolitics
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces claim control of the Bab el-Mandeb area as their offensive against the Houthis continues. The Houthis deny this and are striking Saudi targets.
Geopolitics
Saudi Aramco's chief said on Monday that rebuilding depleted oil inventories could take up to two years. Gulf exports recovered in September.
Economy
Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced on Sunday an operation to retake all Houthi-held territory. Hours earlier, the Houthis had cut Taiz's supply route.
Geopolitics
An Omani co-pilot attacked the captain of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, and Israeli passengers overpowered him. Israeli agencies now dispute who should have vetted him.
Geopolitics
G7 countries agreed to release 100m barrels of oil and diesel to ease prices. OPEC+ kept its November quotas unchanged on Sunday.
Economy
Houthi forces fired six ballistic missiles at the government-held Red Sea port of al-Makha on Friday, killing at least four. They also claimed a drone strike on a Saudi Aramco site in Najran.
Geopolitics
Cairo is examining the legal issues around joining the Mecca Agreement, the defence pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, The National reported on Friday. Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said Ankara and Cairo would continue to deepen their ties, while the Iranian daily Javan called the pact a message to Washington.
Geopolitics
The UN envoy warned on Thursday that Yemen is closer to all-out war than at any time since the 2022 truce. Houthi forces hit a military airfield near Bab al-Mandeb and claimed a drone strike on a Saudi refinery.
Geopolitics
Turkey's Defence Ministry set out on Thursday how the Mecca pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will work: no common enemy, and a complement to NATO rather than a rival.
Geopolitics
A Pentagon review disclosed on Tuesday found that US strikes on Yemen's Houthis killed 153 civilians in 2025. It surfaced as the rebels escalated their attacks on shipping.
Geopolitics
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he hoped more countries would join the mutual defence agreement signed last week by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which he described as a stabilising factor for the region. The same day, Iran called on six major Muslim states, Turkey among them, to take a leading role in strengthening unity in the Islamic world.
Geopolitics
Missiles set a cargo ship carrying food ablaze in the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Tuesday. Yemen's internationally recognised government blames the Houthis; crew members and rescuers were killed.
Geopolitics
A fire at a factory in the Saudi capital Riyadh killed 16 Bangladeshi migrant workers, The Hindu and The National reported on Monday. Neither report gives a cause for the fire.
Geopolitics
Iran has welcomed the defence understanding between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, calling it a sign of a change in perception towards the United States and a move toward security arrangements from within the region. The agreement was reached last week, and the South China Morning Post writes that it adds a further variable to the nuclear triangle of China, India and Pakistan.
Geopolitics
The National reported on Monday that the Houthis are seeking a role comparable to Hezbollah's and are preparing to escalate the conflict in Yemen in support of Iran. The Tehran Times writes that attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities and a naval blockade of Saudi-linked shipping are intended to force Riyadh to lift its blockade of Yemen.
Geopolitics
Houthi missiles and drones struck Yemen's government-held port of al-Makha in two waves on Sunday. The same morning the rebels claimed a drone attack on Aramco's Jazan refinery.
Geopolitics
Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan says Egypt could join the defence pact signed on Friday by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Islamabad calls it purely defensive.
Geopolitics
The National reports that Washington's insistence on non-proliferation conditions could derail the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. The dispute bears on the wider bargain Riyadh is seeking after signing the Mecca defence pact.
Geopolitics
Tehran says a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is close but will not itself reopen the waterway. The UAE blames an Iranian missile for Saturday's strike on an Adnoc tanker.
Geopolitics
Yemen's army says it struck Houthi positions on several fronts on Saturday, its first announced counteroffensive in months. Houthi shelling of Marib continued.
Geopolitics
Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday the new Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani defence pact is technically the same as NATO's Article 5, but names no common threat.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a trilateral defence pact in Mecca on Friday. It declares an armed attack on any one of the three an attack on all.
Geopolitics
Houthi missiles and drones killed at least 58 Yemeni government soldiers at camps in Marib and Hadramawt on Thursday, the deadliest day since the 2022 truce. The same attacks wounded 11 civilians across the border in Saudi Arabia's Najran region.
Geopolitics
The civil nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia raises radioactive questions, The Economist reports. No further details of the accord are available from the reporting at hand.
Geopolitics
Brent swung back above $80 a barrel on Thursday and gold reached a seven-week high as traders priced in a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. US stocks fell on doubts the deal would land.
Economy
Houthi drones and missiles hit Yemeni government army camps in the provinces of Marib and Hadhramaut on Thursday. It is the deadliest attack since the UN-brokered truce of 2022.
Geopolitics
Iran has told Gulf states it would hit their energy infrastructure if the United States attacks Iranian territory again. A Saudi official said on Thursday that Riyadh expects coordinated attacks by Yemen's Houthis and Iraqi militias.
Geopolitics
The Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck Najran Airport in response to Saudi drone incursions over Yemen; Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said they hit civilian targets in the Najran region, wounding 11 civilians including a child. Gulf shipping traffic fell after the rebels also said they had attacked a Saudi oil tanker, and the kingdom warned of escalation.
Geopolitics
Saudi crude shipments to the United States have dropped to zero for the first time in 40 years, Bloomberg reported. US refiners were buying more than 600,000 barrels of Saudi oil a day earlier this year before turning to other suppliers.
Economy
Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday they hit two Saudi oil tankers, the Wafa off Yanbu and the Daisy in the Gulf of Aden. Oil prices rebounded, and Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claims.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and its partners, among them Affinity Partners, the firm run by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, completed the $55 billion purchase of Electronic Arts, the maker of The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield. The closing, reported on Wednesday, is the largest step so far in Riyadh's push into video games.
Economy
The Houthi campaign against Saudi Arabia widened on Tuesday, with a claimed drone strike inside the kingdom and an Indian-flagged vessel sunk off Yemen. Saudi crude is being pushed away from the Red Sea.
Geopolitics
Wall Street closed at record highs on Tuesday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be close. Brent crude fell below $80 for the first time in nearly a month.
Economy
Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday that second-quarter net profit rose 44% to about $33bn, helped by higher oil prices during the US-Iran war, while BP more than doubled its quarterly profit to more than $5bn. The Guardian reported that eight of the biggest oil companies made more than $90bn in three months, reviving demands that they pay for environmental damage.
Economy
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran are under way and are Tehran's "last chance" before what he called a "decapitation". Iran's foreign ministry denies any contact with Washington and says it is talking only to Oman.
Geopolitics
US President Donald Trump says he cancelled a planned wave of strikes on Iran and that talks with Tehran open on Monday afternoon. Iranian agencies deny any deal on the Strait of Hormuz was reached.
Geopolitics
Seven OPEC+ states agreed on Sunday to lift oil production by 188,000 barrels per day in September, the sixth monthly increase in a row. The step finishes unwinding the voluntary cuts the group agreed in 2023.
Economy
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had cancelled a planned major attack on Iran, saying Tehran and other Middle Eastern states had agreed the "outlines of a deal". He named two conditions: the complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran's nuclear threat.
Geopolitics
The Tehran Times said a joint US-Saudi air attack on Popular Mobilisation Forces positions in Iraq, launched in the early hours of Wednesday, was a strategic miscalculation rather than a display of strength. The National reported separately that Iraq's Al Zaidi faces an "impossible" task in disarming Iran-backed militias.
Geopolitics
Crude rose sharply on Friday as fighting between the United States and Iran disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with WTI near $85 and Brent above $88 a barrel. Bloomberg reports oil is heading for a monthly gain of about 21 percent.
Economy
Saudi Arabia held the first planning session on Thursday for a proposed maritime defence coalition to secure the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, and Bloomberg reported that Saudi ships are now avoiding the chokepoint and sailing around Africa. Tehran Times reported that the Ansarullah leader spoke to hundreds of thousands in Sana'a's Sab'een Square on Friday as Yemen locked in its naval blockade, while The National linked a growing Houthi presence in Iraq to an attack on the kingdom.
Geopolitics
Seoul has asked Washington for the right to enrich uranium on its own territory, Le Monde reported on Friday, after the United States announced an agreement allowing Riyadh to build its own enrichment capacity. Washington still refuses that right to South Korea.
Geopolitics
US Central Command says it struck dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets across Iran in a two-hour wave overnight into Thursday, the first American strikes in more than five days. Iran answered with missile attacks on US bases in Jordan and Kuwait, where one person was killed. Mediators in Islamabad say talks to end the five-month war are still running.
Geopolitics
US and Saudi aircraft bombed bases of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces on Wednesday, killing at least 20 fighters by the PMF's own count and marking the first joint Saudi-American operation of the five-month war with Iran. Hours later US Central Command opened what it called a heavy wave of strikes on dozens of IRGC targets inside Iran, retaliating for Iranian missile fire on US bases in Jordan. Baghdad has since postponed a planned prime ministerial visit to Riyadh.
Geopolitics
A drone strike set two vessels alight at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta on Wednesday, the first such attack on Egyptian soil since the US-Iran war began in February. Cairo said an initial investigation pointed to an unidentified drone and that no group had claimed responsibility. The port sits near the Suez Canal, and the strike has focused attention on how exposed the waterway's shipping is as the war pulls in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday a multinational maritime defence coalition, joined by dozens of states including Egypt and Turkey, to protect shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait against Houthi attacks. Yemeni sources told The Guardian that Riyadh is at the same time concentrating forces for a possible major offensive by sea and possibly by land against the Houthis in central Yemen.
Geopolitics
Saudi Arabia's economy contracted at its steepest rate since 2020 as the renewed war with Iran disrupted oil exports, according to figures reported on Thursday. The kingdom's revenues depend heavily on the shipments now affected by the conflict.
Economy
States affected by the Iran war are working on a new order for the Middle East whose centre of gravity is a Sunni axis of what FAZ calls the "regional four", led by Saudi Arabia. Jacobin argues in a separate analysis that the rivalry between the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is itself fuelling a series of wars beyond the Arabian Peninsula.
Geopolitics
Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at US positions in Jordan on Wednesday, the 152nd day of the war, ending a short pause in hostilities. Jordan's military said it shot down five missiles and reported no casualties or damage. Hours later the Pentagon said it had completed a heavy series of strikes on dozens of IRGC targets inside Iran, while US and Saudi aircraft also hit Iran-aligned militia sites in Iraq.
Geopolitics
US and Saudi fighter aircraft struck bases of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces across several provinces on Wednesday, killing at least 20 fighters according to the PMF. Washington and Riyadh said the strikes answered drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities launched from Iraqi territory; the Iraqi groups deny involvement. Baghdad called the raids a violation of its sovereignty, cancelled a planned visit to Saudi Arabia and convened its National Security Council.
Geopolitics
Brent crude rose by roughly 8 percent to about $91 a barrel on Wednesday after Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at US forces in Jordan and US and Saudi forces struck Iran-aligned groups in eastern Iraq. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below normal, and US crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels last week. Japan and other Asian buyers are turning to Canadian crude shipped through the Trans Mountain pipeline to cut their Gulf exposure.
Economy
Tehran has turned down Oman's proposal for joint regional management of the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, ending hopes of a quick diplomatic exit from a war that has disrupted Gulf shipping for months. CENTCOM says it has redirected 20 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two since resuming its naval blockade of Iranian ports on 14 July, while Washington sanctioned what it calls Iran's Hormuz 'extortion network'. The Revolutionary Guards say they stopped three oil tankers in the strait and retain full control of the waterway.
Geopolitics
Houthi forces struck several Saudi vessels in the Bab al-Mandab strait, which Le Monde reports has become even more important since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and Breitbart reports the group is considering charging shipping "fees" for safe passage. Saudi Arabia is seeking international partners for a coalition to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea, according to two people familiar with the deliberations cited by Daily Sabah, as attacks on energy tankers push oil prices higher.
Geopolitics
A US-Saudi consortium is advancing plans for an oil refinery worth $5 billion located outside the Strait of Hormuz, The National reports. Building permanent capacity beyond the chokepoint points to expectations of lasting risk for Gulf export routes.
Economy
Iran fired ballistic missiles at a US military base in Jordan on Tuesday, breaking a pause of several days in the exchange with Washington; CENTCOM says its forces intercepted them. A day later US and Saudi fighter aircraft struck Iran-aligned logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq, after Saudi air defences shot down drones aimed at oil facilities. The Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces say eight of their members were killed.
Geopolitics
Oman has put a Gulf-backed proposal to Tehran to manage and reopen the Strait of Hormuz jointly, modelled on the Strait of Malacca with voluntary fees for passing ships. Iran's deputy foreign minister rejected an equal split of the transit routes, demanded one lane entirely under Iranian control plus part of the second, and said the waterway stays closed unless Muscat accepts. US Central Command said it has redirected 18 commercial vessels since resuming its naval blockade of Iran on 14 July.
Geopolitics
US President Donald Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, 28 July, in a meeting closed to reporters that both governments called positive and productive. Iran dominated the talks, and both sides said they reaffirmed that Tehran must not obtain a nuclear weapon. Hours earlier, Israel's defence minister said Washington is not approving Israeli strikes on Iranian energy facilities.
Geopolitics
Brent crude dropped more than 6 percent on Tuesday to about $83 a barrel as negotiations between Washington and Tehran gained traction, extending a retreat of roughly 16 percent from last week's peak above $100. At the same time Saudi Aramco suspended its 400,000 barrel-a-day Jizan refinery until mid-August after a Houthi attack, and the Red Sea route Riyadh uses to bypass the Strait of Hormuz remains under threat.
Economy
The Houthis said they fired ballistic missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal in the Red Sea, and their spokesman Yahya Sarea said the vessel was forced to change course, part of the group's declared naval blockade of Saudi shipping. Iran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said the Houthis will decide for themselves, at the appropriate time, whether to strike US bases alongside Iran.
Geopolitics
Brent crude dropped by as much as 9 percent to below $88 a barrel on Monday, 27 July 2026, after the United States and Iran halted their attacks and signalled that talks could resume. WTI fell more than 7 percent at its low, UK government bond yields eased and Asian trading turned mixed to firmer. Analysts warned that similar pauses have failed before and that physical oil flows through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab remain disrupted.
Economy
Saudi Arabia says it shot down drones launched from Iraqi territory at oil facilities in its Eastern Province and at Riyadh, blaming Iran-backed militias and reserving the right to respond. Yemen's Houthis separately claimed drone strikes on the pipeline infrastructure carrying crude from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Shipping data show traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait has fallen by 56 percent since the Houthis declared an embargo on Saudi-linked vessels on July 20.
Geopolitics
Crude oil moved in both directions within days, slumping roughly 5% after Washington and Tehran halted strikes and spiking back toward $100 a barrel as escalation fears returned. Gold rose as the pause curbed inflation risk, Asian equities and currencies firmed on softer US inflation data, and bond markets repriced war risk. Financial outlets report the pause has calmed markets without removing the underlying supply risk in the Gulf and the Red Sea.
Economy
After the Houthis declared a maritime embargo on Saudi shipping and struck two tankers in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia has loaded no crude for export through the Bab al-Mandeb strait from its west coast, according to Kpler data cited by The National. Cargoes for Asian buyers are instead moving through the Suez Canal, a route that adds weeks and cost. The rebels also claim to have hit Aramco sites at Jizan and Yanbu, a claim neither the Saudi government nor Aramco has confirmed.
Geopolitics
The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump is advancing a nuclear energy agenda that includes an agreement with Saudi Arabia, and that his family and close supporters have overlapping business ties that could position them for gains. A Wall Street Journal opinion piece argued the Saudi nuclear deal invites disaster.
Geopolitics
For the first time since 13 July, US Central Command reported no new airstrikes on Iran, and Tehran also appeared to hold fire as the war reached its 148th day. The pause rests on no agreed framework: the New York Times reports that nearly all 14 points of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement have been violated. Along the Red Sea, the parallel conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis intensified, with attacks reported on two Saudi oil sites.
Geopolitics
Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday it had fired missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu, calling it retaliation for Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Hodeidah the night before. Saudi air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen and emergency alerts were issued in both cities, but Riyadh has not confirmed any damage. The exchange follows a Houthi declaration of a naval blockade of the kingdom and comes as the Red Sea becomes a second disrupted shipping corridor alongside the Strait of Hormuz.
Geopolitics
Brent crude has closed above $100 a barrel for the first time since late May, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked by the US-Iran war and the Red Sea disrupted by Houthi attacks on Saudi oil vessels. In the same week the United States began enforcing duties of 10% to 12.5% on more than 60 economies, its third tariff regime in under a year. Analysts warn that the two shocks reinforce each other instead of cancelling out, compounding inflation and growth risks worldwide.
Economy
Washington's agreement to let Saudi Arabia operate a uranium enrichment programme has reignited warnings of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Riyadh has not ruled out building weapons if Iran does, but its nuclear ambitions also rest on decades-old economic calculations about oil dependence, budget deficits and rising electricity demand. The cooperation agreement, announced alongside a $15bn finance pact, remains at the announcement stage rather than in execution.
Geopolitics
Dozens of ships are still crossing the Red Sea despite the Houthi blockade, but disruption is scattered and uncertainty over the passage is growing by the hour. At the same time, tanker crossings through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen to their lowest level in two months as the Iran war repeatedly interrupts commercial shipping. Companies and port operators are responding not by rerouting cargo but by rebuilding where goods are made, stored and moved.
Economy
Brent crude closed above $100 a barrel on 23 July for the first time since late May, after Houthi attacks on two Saudi oil vessels in the Red Sea added a second disrupted chokepoint to the already blocked Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia is rerouting exports through the Suez Canal, a detour that roughly doubles fuel costs per voyage to Asia. Asian equities fell after a US sell-off, and analysts warn of a renewed inflation impulse.
Economy
The US president has announced a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia while continuing to press Iran not to build a nuclear weapon. In parallel, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund signed a framework agreement with the US Export-Import Bank worth up to $15 billion, plus further accords of up to $9.5 billion with two private-sector arms of the World Bank. The two strands together mark a deeper financial and technological alignment between Washington and Riyadh.
Geopolitics
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it carried out air strikes on Friday against Houthi military installations in the port city of Hodeidah, according to Folha de S.Paulo. The National reports the strikes followed rebel attacks on a vessel in the Red Sea.
Geopolitics