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Saudi Crown Prince Visits Eastern Province, Renewing Tradition of Royal Engagement

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presiding over the Cabinet session in Dammam on Tuesday (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presiding over the Cabinet session in Dammam on Tuesday (SPA)
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Saudi Crown Prince Visits Eastern Province, Renewing Tradition of Royal Engagement

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presiding over the Cabinet session in Dammam on Tuesday (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presiding over the Cabinet session in Dammam on Tuesday (SPA)

Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman has arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, a region that anchors the Kingdom’s oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors.

The province’s strategic importance has grown in recent years with major natural-gas discoveries at the Jafurah field, which added an estimated 229 trillion cubic feet to Saudi Arabia’s reserves.

The visit underscores the enduring Saudi tradition of direct leadership outreach. It is part of a continuing series of royal tours across the Kingdom, in which the Eastern Province has frequently played a central role.

The Crown Prince last visited the region on May 17, 2024, and previously in December 2018, engaging with local officials and residents to hear their needs firsthand and outline his vision for national transformation.

During the current tour, the Crown Prince chaired a Cabinet session in Dammam on Tuesday. The region has hosted two previous Cabinet meetings under King Salman since he assumed the throne in 2015. The monarch convened Cabinet sessions there during his visits in 2016 and 2017, the latter coinciding with the 29th Arab Summit in Dhahran. King Salman returned again in 2018.

In his 2016 visit, King Salman inaugurated five major Aramco projects spanning oil, gas, and the knowledge economy. Among them was the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), now one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent cultural and innovation hubs.

A Legacy of Royal Visits to the Eastern Province

Royal visits to the Eastern Province have historically blended public engagement with key milestones in the Kingdom’s energy development. King Abdulaziz’s first tour in 1936 came just three years after the Kingdom signed its oil concession agreement with Standard Oil of California. During that visit, the King met with senior executives of the Arabian American Oil Company to review exploration progress.

A turning point came on March 4, 1938, when oil began flowing from Dammam Well No. 7 - an event that reshaped Saudi Arabia’s future and the global energy landscape. The following year, King Abdulaziz traveled to Dhahran to mark the completion of the pipeline linking Dammam to Ras Tanura. He personally opened the valve to load the first shipment of Saudi crude, which sailed on May 1, 1939. His tour also included stops in Qatif, Dammam, Khobar, Abu Hadriya, and Jabal Qurain. He returned to Dhahran again in 1947.

Successive kings followed this path. King Saud visited the province four times in the 1950s, including high-profile meetings in Dammam with Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. King Faisal visited twice, inaugurating the College of Petroleum and Minerals in 1955 and a major irrigation project in 1971.

King Khalid toured the region in 1982, while King Fahd made five visits throughout the 1980s, launching major industrial, desalination, and infrastructure projects, among them the King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

King Abdullah also made several visits between 2006 and 2009, including presiding over Aramco’s 75th-anniversary celebrations and hosting key regional summits.

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Gulf

Iraq Vows No Leniency with Parties Harming Ties with Saudi Arabia

Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi. (INA)
Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi. (INA)
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Iraq Vows No Leniency with Parties Harming Ties with Saudi Arabia

Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi. (INA)
Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi. (INA)

Iraq said it was ready to cooperate fully in verifying any information about an attack on Saudi Arabia that was launched from its territory, renewing its condemnation of the incident and vowing measures to prevent any breach of Iraqi sovereignty.

The Iraqi government’s latest condemnation came a day after the Foreign Ministry denounced the attacks on the Kingdom, in what observers said signaled Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s new government was keen to protect ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday it had intercepted and destroyed three drones after they entered the Kingdom’s airspace from Iraq.

Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi renewed Baghdad’s condemnation on Tuesday, saying Iraq “reaffirms its firm and historic position in support of distinguished and lasting relations with brotherly and friendly countries of the region, its commitment to the security of Arab states, the importance of supporting stability, all efforts to ease tensions, and preventing attacks, whatever their source.”

“The Iraqi government condemns the recent drone attacks that targeted Saudi Arabia and affirms its continued joint efforts to strengthen regional security and safeguard the security and sovereignty of countries in the region,” he said.

Awadi repeated that the military authorities did not detect or record any activity from the country’s airspace, stressing, however, that Iraqi institutions were fully ready “to cooperate in verifying any information related to the circumstances of the attack that targeted the Kingdom.”

He stressed Iraq’s “categorical rejection of the use of its territory, airspace or territorial waters to launch any attack on neighboring countries.”

Awadi said Iraqi security forces had taken “all necessary steps and measures to thwart and uncover any attempt in this context,” adding that there would be “no leniency toward anyone who tries to violate the sovereignty of the Iraqi state or damage relations with the Kingdom, neighboring countries or brotherly states.”

Observers are now raising questions over how Zaidi will deal with pro-Iran armed factions and confront their activities at home and abroad, particularly under continued US pressure.

In recent months, after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, factions launched hundreds of attacks on targets inside Iraq, most of them in the northern Kurdistan region.

They also carried out attacks on more than one country in Iraq’s regional neighborhood. Those attacks stopped during the ceasefire, before resuming with three drones over Saudi territory.

Many believe the factions’ latest attacks pose a serious challenge to Zaidi’s authority. The prime minister, whose government was approved by parliament last week, has received clear US, domestic and Arab backing, a development that was not welcomed by the factions, which are seeking to embarrass him at the start of his tenure in Iraq’s top executive post.

Gulf

Bahrain Suspends Entry of Foreign Travelers Arriving from Three Countries Amid Ebola Fears

A view of Bahrain's capital Manama. (Getty Images file)
A view of Bahrain's capital Manama. (Getty Images file)
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Bahrain Suspends Entry of Foreign Travelers Arriving from Three Countries Amid Ebola Fears

A view of Bahrain's capital Manama. (Getty Images file)
A view of Bahrain's capital Manama. (Getty Images file)

Bahrain said on Tuesday it was suspending the entry of foreign travelers arriving from South Sudan, ‌the Democratic ‌Republic of ‌Congo ⁠and Uganda due ⁠to the Ebola virus outbreak.

The suspension will be effective for ⁠30 days ‌starting Tuesday, ‌according to ‌the country's ‌state news agency.

The World Health Organization expressed deep ‌concern on Tuesday at the speed ⁠and ⁠scale of the Ebola outbreak, as the number of cases rises.

Gulf

UAE Says Drones Targeting Nuclear Plant Came from Iraq

The United Arab Emirates flag flutters against the backdrop of the Abu Dhabi Skyline following a reported Iranian strike, March 1, 2026. (AFP)
The United Arab Emirates flag flutters against the backdrop of the Abu Dhabi Skyline following a reported Iranian strike, March 1, 2026. (AFP)
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UAE Says Drones Targeting Nuclear Plant Came from Iraq

The United Arab Emirates flag flutters against the backdrop of the Abu Dhabi Skyline following a reported Iranian strike, March 1, 2026. (AFP)
The United Arab Emirates flag flutters against the backdrop of the Abu Dhabi Skyline following a reported Iranian strike, March 1, 2026. (AFP)

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday said drones that targeted its nuclear plant last week came from Iraq, from where Iranian-backed groups have launched several attacks since the Middle East war began.

On Sunday, an unclaimed drone struck an electrical generator near the Arab world's only nuclear power plant in Barakah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, triggering a fire but causing no injuries or radiation leak. Two other drones had been intercepted.

"As part of the ongoing investigation into the blatant attack on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant on May 17, 2026, technical tracking and monitoring confirmed that the three drones... all originated from Iraqi territory," the Emirati defense ministry said.

Authorities intercepted six drones that also came from Iraq and "attempted to target civilian and vital areas" in the past 48 hours, the ministry added.

Iraqi authorities had already condemned the attack on Barakah before Abu Dhabi announced where the drones came from.

Iran has attacked the UAE and other Gulf nations since the US and Israel launched strikes on the country on February 28, targeting US assets but also energy and civilian infrastructure.

Iran-backed groups in Iraq have not claimed any strikes since the truce came into place, though Gulf countries have reported attacks from Iraq.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia had reported intercepting drones that came from Iraq, while Baghdad said its defense systems had not detected any drones launched from its territory toward the Kingdom.