US President Donald J. Trump’s proposed civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia risks becoming one of the most dangerous strategic mistakes in recent American Middle East policy. Although supporters portray the agreement as a peaceful energy partnership designed to strengthen relations with a key Arab ally, the long-term consequences could be devastating. The agreement threatens to weaken decades of US non-proliferation policy, ignite a regional arms race, embolden America’s adversaries, and create security risks that future generations may be powerless to reverse.
Saudi Arabia
US signs landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could pave the way for domestic nuclear enrichment
The US has signed a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in the future.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy said its secretary, Chris Wright, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed a “peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement”, along with a “bilateral safeguards agreement”.
The full details of the deal have yet to be released, but the timing of the announcement is controversial, as the US’s war with Iran is being fought in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically and make it near-impossible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.
Mark Carney’s visit to Saudi Arabia revealed a narrowed vision of Canada’s place in the world
“O Canada” was played in Saudi Arabia this week for the first time in 26 years. That quarter-century silence tells the real story behind Mark Carney’s visit to Jeddah.
The last Canadian prime minister to visit Saudi Arabia was Jean Chrétien, in 2000, during a 12-day Middle East tour driven by a very different ambition: to reinforce Canada’s role as a credible participant in the Oslo peace process and to lead the international working group on Palestinian refugees. Canada then aspired to play a distinctive diplomatic role in the region and strengthen multilateralism.
What will the Elbows say?
If Saudi Arabia Wants U.S. Alliance, It Must End Support for Sudanese Armed Forces — Aligned with Muslim Brotherhood and Iran — Not Fund It

Sudan’s ongoing civil war is not just a clash between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former military allies-turned rivals, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It is a calculated power grab by the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, recently listed by the US as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The US announced plans to formally classify the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) starting March 16, 2026, and accused it of carrying out mass violence against civilians during Sudan’s ongoing war. Meanwhile, the terrorist organization appears to be using the SAF as a Trojan horse to dominate northeast Africa and the Red Sea – a critical artery for global commerce.
Inside Saudi Arabia’s ‘hellish’ secret prisons for ‘disobedient’ women and girls

Saudi women have bravely spoken out on the ‘hellish’ conditions inside the country’s prisons for ‘disobedient’ women, where inmates are sent by family members to be ‘rehabilitated’ through an alleged violent campaign of flogging, isolation and abuse.
Women have shared harrowing testimonies of being sent to the facilities as punishment for not ‘obeying’ sexual abuse at home, and then flogged or locked away in isolation until they ‘reconcile’ with their abusers.
The human rights group ALQST has documented wider cases of abuse and neglect; malnutrition; poor health and hygiene; mistreatment and brutality; excessive use of solitary confinement; and denigration.
Trump signs £107 billion defence deal with Saudi Arabia

President Trump said American businesses would “walk away with a lot of cheques” as he visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as part of a tour of the Middle East.
Among the deals already signed is “the largest defence sales agreement in history” worth $142 billion, the White House said. It includes providing Saudi Arabia with “state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen US defence firms”.
Outrage as Saudi Arabia picked to head women’s rights forum

Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador, Abdulaziz Alwasil, has been chosen to chair the world body’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) after the country’s bid for the position remained unopposed.
The choice has been slammed by rights groups, as women in Saudi Arabia itself are severely disadvantaged under law.
Iran, Saudi Arabia make diplomatic breakthrough in China

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran held their first official meeting in Beijing in over seven years on Thursday.
During the meeting, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed reopening embassies and consulates of the two countries, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
I think we’ll see Israel acting against Iran soon.
Saudi Arabia set to join anti-West bloc with China and Russia as the US disengages with the Middle East

The kingdom’s cabinet seeks full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as the US disengages with the Middle East
Saudi Arabia is joining an anti-Western influence bloc formed by Russia and China, in a sign of Riyadh’s deepening ties with Beijing as the US pivots away from the Middle East.
The kingdom’s cabinet approved a plan to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a “dialogue partner”, a precursor to being granted full membership, SPA, the Saudis’ state news agency, announced on Wednesday.
Formed in 2001 by Russia, China and former Soviet states in Central Asia, the SCO is a political and security bloc of countries spanning much of Eurasia and has expanded to include India and Pakistan, with a view to challenging Western influence in the region.
The State Department seems to have achieved its desire.
Developments like this lead me to believe that China’s Useful Idiot Junior is being forced out of office by a shadowy hand.
China brokers deal for Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic relations

Iran and Saudi Arabia are to resume diplomatic relations, the two countries announced in a joint statement on Friday, in a diplomatic coup for China, which brokered the agreement.
The agreement to restore ties within two months was reached after four days of meetings in Beijing between the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban, the two countries said in a joint communique with China.
Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

Haraj marketplace remains on App Store and Google Play despite UN slavery warning
She will work day and night and does not need rest, boasts Noura, a housewife in Riyadh. Gesturing to the cowering Ugandan maid next to her, who is 23 according to Noura, she adds: “If she does something wrong, you just send her to her room and do not let her out.”
Noura, who clutches gold Gucci sunglasses as she bargains for a price of £3,500 for the maid, is eager for a quick deal when she talks to an undercover Times reporter. “I can take her to your home tonight,” she says. “If you are still unsure, no problem, you can rent her instead . . . But tell me now, because by tomorrow someone else will buy her.”
Saudi Arabia Welcomes China’s Xi as US Snubs Allies, Courts Enemies

China is fully exploiting the cooling of US-Saudi relations engineered by the Biden administration’s repeated public personal attacks on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as well as perceived decreased support for the Saudi-led coalition’s efforts to blunt Iranian expansionism in Yemen.
China’s first summit with Arab state leaders in Saudi Arabia occurs at a propitious time for both Chinese President Xi Jinping and MBS. Xi is at the height of his power, having been approved in November by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee for an unprecedented third term as party General Secretary. MBS, already Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, was just appointed as the Prime Minister by his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
China’s Deal with Saudi Arabia is a Disaster for Biden

Nothing better illustrates the utter ineptitude of the Biden administration’s dealings with the Middle East than Saudi Arabia’s decision to forge a strategic alliance with China.
This is a time when Washington should be working overtime to strengthen its ties with long-standing allies like the Saudis to combat the mounting threat Iran poses to the region’s security.
Apart from the deeply alarming progress the ayatollahs are said to be making with their efforts to produce nuclear weapons.
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman mocked Biden in private questioned mental state: report

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s 37-year-old ruler, has reportedly mocked President Biden in private while questioning his mental state, a move that could fracture U.S.-Saudi relations at a time when the partnership is being tested following a move by OPEC+ to cut oil production and harsh criticism of the regime by American lawmakers.
The Wall Street Journal reported that several people inside the Saudi government said the prince preferred former President Trump and has seemed unimpressed with Biden since his days as vice president while also making fun of his gaffes.
I wonder what they say about Junior.
Mohammed bin Salman’s cousin’s violent threat to the West: Saud al-Shaalan warns those who ‘challenge’ Saudi Arabia that ‘we are all projects of jihad and martyrdom’ – after Biden said there would be ‘consequences’ for OPEC cut

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s cousin issued a violent threat against those who ‘challenge’ Saudi Arabia after President Biden warned there would be ‘consequences’ for OPEC cutting oil production, just weeks before the midterms.
In a message aimed at ‘the West,’ Saud al-Shaalan is seen in a video saying ‘anybody who challenges the existence of this kingdom, we are all projects of jihad and martyrdom. Anybody that thinks they can threaten us–‘
Al-Shaalan’s threat comes at a time of sky-high tensions between Washington and Riyadh after OPEC+ cut oil production by two million barrels per day and the Biden administration accused the Saudi Kingdom of aligning itself with Russia and Putin.
What a time to be alive! Here we are hoping the senile old coot don’t die because Kamala would be president!
