The intensive protests in Jordan against the war in Gaza are a source of concern for the Gulf states, which regard them as an attempt by Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement and Iran to agitate the masses and ultimately overthrow the Jordanian regime, as well as other regimes in the region.[1] Since Hamas' October 7, 2023 terror attack in southern Israel and the
It has recently been reported that the U.S. and Iran have agreed on a prisoner exchange deal, as part of which the U.S. will also release several billion dollars of Iranian funds frozen outside the country. According to the reports, the deal was brokered by Qatar and Oman, and the funds will be transferred to the central bank of Qatar, which will be tasked with ensuring that
In a dramatic move on March 10, 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran declared that they had reached an agreement to renew relations after a seven-year hiatus.[1]Through Chinese mediation, the two countries agreed to reopen their respective embassies within two months, and to reactivate past Saudi-Iran agreements, among them a 2001 security cooperation agreement. In the framework of the
During the 33rd Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), held in Bahrain on February 1, 2023, Saudi Arabia was elected to host the AFC Cup in 2027. The Saudi kingdom received the votes of 43 out of 45 football federations that belong to the AFC. The only two federations that did not vote for it were those of Palestine and Turkmenistan, whose representatives failed
The December 7-9, 2022 visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia attracted attention and sparked debate all over the world, especially against the backdrop of the rivalry between China and the U.S.