Saudi Arabia cut ties in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed Middle East regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations, seven years after severing them in a bitter row.

A US intelligence report has found that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the murder of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Mecca 1979: The mosque siege that changed the course of Saudi history It's four decades since a charismatic preacher and his followers staged an armed takeover of the Grand Mosque of Mecca and the holiest place in Islam became a killing field. The resulting siege, writes the BBC's Eli Melki, shook the Muslim world to its foundations and changed the course of Saudi history. In the early hours of 20

The #SaveRahaf campaign went viral after Rahaf started tweeting about her plight for asylum A Saudi woman who fled her family and became stranded at Bangkok's main airport is flying to Canada after being granted asylum status. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, had been trying to reach Australia via Bangkok, but was initially told to return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, pictured at Bangkok airport, says she "wants to be free" away from Saudi Arabia An 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family at the weekend has left Bangkok airport "under the care" of the UN refugee agency, the head of Thailand's immigration police says. Thai immigration officials had tried to return Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, to Kuwait, where her family is.

transcript From Denials to Fistfights: How the Saudis’ Khashoggi Story ChangedSaudi Arabia now suggests that Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist, was the victim of a premeditated killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. It’s the latest in a series of shifting explanations from the kingdom. Outright denials. Botched interrogations. Fistfights. Ever since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disa

Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are currently directly or indirectly engaged in a number of Middle East conflicts, as well as opposing sides of the global oil trade. MILITARY SPENDING In the past five years, most Middle Eastern countries have been directly or indirectly involved in armed conflicts. About 32 percent of documented weapon imports worldwide are to this region. Saudi Arabia has a

The Houthi movement unveiled the Burkan 2 missile in February 2017 The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthi rebels says it has intercepted a missile over Riyadh. The Houthis' Al Masirah TV reported that a Burkan H2 ballistic missile had targeted a meeting at the al-Yamama Palace in the Saudi capital. Witnesses said they heard an explosion and posted pictures online showing a cloud of smoke

A group of 19 "keyholes" at Al Wadi, in the Saudi Arabian desert, observed by archaeologist David Kennedy from a helicopter. Dr. Kennedy took more than 6,000 aerial photographs of these mysterious, ancient structures.Credit...David Kennedy For nearly a decade, David Kennedy marveled from behind his computer screen at thousands of mysterious stone structures scattered across Saudi Arabia’s desert.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been regional rivals, but tensions between the two have recently soared. Each has its own powerful allies, and enemies, in the region. Here is where the key players stand:

Saad Hariri said he feared an assassination plot, accusing Iran and Hezbollah of breeding strife A night of long knives and long-range missiles in Riyadh has provoked another seismic shift across a volatile Middle East and nervous uncertainty over what salvos will follow next. Three events that happened suddenly on Saturday in the Saudi capital were not directly linked. But, all told, they pack a

Until now, only men were allowed licences and women who drove in public risked being arrested and fined. Praise for the move has been pouring in from inside Saudi Arabia, as well as around the world. US President Donald Trump said it was a "positive step" towards promoting women's rights.

Between 2015 and 2017, three Saudi princes living in Europe disappeared. All were critical of the Saudi government - and there is evidence that all were abducted and flown back to Saudi Arabia… where nothing further has been heard from them. Early in the morning on 12 June 2003, a Saudi prince is being driven to a palace on the outskirts of Geneva. His name is Sultan bin Turki bin Abdulaziz, and t

Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) replaces prince Mohammed bin Nayef (right) as crown prince Saudi Arabia's king has appointed his son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince - replacing his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, as first in line to the throne. King Salman's decree also means Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31, will become deputy prime minister while continuing as defence minister.

A bright and upbeat music video of Saudi women has rapidly spread across social media, viewed more than three million times since it was uploaded to YouTube two weeks ago. The video, which challenges the country's patriarchal culture, has prompted debate over the role of women in Saudi society.CreditCredit...8ies Studios Three women in black niqabs covering their hair and faces skateboard down a s

Protesters with an image of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shiite leader, in Tehran in 1979, the year of Iran’s revolution.Credit...Agence France-Presse—Getty Images Behind much of the Middle East’s chaos — the wars in Syria and Yemen, the political upheaval in Iraq and Lebanon and Bahrain — there is another conflict. Saudi Arabia and Iran are waging a struggle for dominance that has turned much o

A food factory hit by a Saudi-led coalition, killing workers and destroying the building in Sanaa, Yemen, last week.Credit...Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images In the span of four days earlier this month, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen bombed a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital, killing 19 people; a school, where 10 children, some as young as 8, died; and a vital

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The doctor told the parents to say goodbye. With wet eyes, they held out their palms in prayer and bent over the hospital bed to kiss their daughters’ tiny foreheads. The girls had spent the year since their birth facing each other like mirror images they could not escape. Identical twins joined at the belly, each had two arms and two legs, individual hearts and digestive tr