Saudi Arabia says it destroyed drones launched from Iraq towards oil facilities in Riyadh and the Eastern Province. A separate Houthi claim against the kingdom’s East–West oil route exposes the fragility of the regional pause.
Washington and Riyadh have signed a civilian nuclear agreement that could lead to uranium enrichment inside Saudi Arabia. Its commercial promise is substantial, but the absence of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol has intensified proliferation concerns.
Saudi Arabia is scaling back NEOM, its flagship Vision 2030 megaproject. Under new CEO Aiman al-Mudaifer, reporting says work on 'The Line' has been halted until after 2030, with Red Sea tourism and the Trojena ski resort delayed. The 2030 population target has collapsed from roughly 1.5 million to as low as 100,000, while $3 billion is redirected to the port-city OXAGON. Finance Minister al-Jadaan says Riyadh has 'no ego' and will defer or cancel projects.
The informal EU foreign ministers' meeting in Limassol put Ukraine, India and Saudi Arabia on an agenda where small states still have to be precise.
Riyadh's foreign ministry urged restraint from both Washington and Tehran on 4 May, marking a more dovish stance than its Gulf neighbours and underscoring the kingdom's reluctance to be drawn into a wider war.
Abu Dhabi's signalled withdrawal from OPEC and rare public rebuke of fellow Arab states have exposed a rift with Riyadh that the cartel will struggle to paper over.