Outlet profile

Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi-aligned pan-Arab daily

Owned bySaudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), a Riyadh-based publisher with close ties to the Saudi royal family. Published from London.

FundingAdvertising and sales revenue through SRMG, a publicly listed group with royal-linked ownership. The paper has also been described as benefiting from state-aligned patronage. Its exact finances are not publicly itemized.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Asharq Al-Awsat was launched in London on July 4, 1978, by the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, with the approval of the Saudi royal family. It was set up as a pan-Arab paper for Arabic readers across the region and the diaspora. The group, later renamed the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG) in 2021, also publishes other Arabic and business titles and has expanded into digital, events, polling and research. An English-language site is published alongside the Arabic edition. Media-bias reviewers and reference sources describe the paper as supportive of the Saudi government and its foreign policy, and it has generally taken a hostile line toward Iran and its allied groups. It has a reputation for relatively polished writing and for hosting a wide range of Arab columnists, though criticism of the Saudi leadership is rare. In 2026 its coverage of the Trump administration has focused on the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz tensions, Gaza's Board of Peace and Sudan diplomacy. It mostly relays official U.S. statements and interviews with administration figures, while some analysis has noted how Trump's foreign policy could affect Republicans' midterm prospects. Its stance toward Washington is shaped more by Saudi interests, such as the Saudi-U.S. relationship, than by U.S. partisan politics.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-11-01; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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