Spatial and temporal variability of aerosol optical depth (AOD) together with aerosol-type specification were analyzed over Eastern Province of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Bahrain from 2008 to 2019. To investigate study region with more details, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain was divided into three and four zones, respectively. This work utilized comprehensive satellite-based air quality data using NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) model. The retrieved total AOD data exhibited relatively lower average values in the Bahraini zones in comparison with the Eastern KSA during the study period. The monthly total AOD values in Bahraini zones were in the range of 0.20 and 0.87, while they were in the range of 0.23 and 0.91 in KSA zones. The AOD values were positively correlated with ambient air temperature (r = 0.43), while they were negatively correlated with relative humidity (r = 0.59) in Bahrain. Seasonal wind rose diagrams for Bahrain and monthly synoptic maps of (20–40°N, 40–60°E) West Asia region demonstrates that dominant wind direction is from NNW to Bahrain. The data assimilation algorithms in MERRA-2 showed that the major aerosol species that contributed to total AOD were as follows: mineral dust (68–74%), sulfate (17–20%), organic carbon (4–5%), sea salt (3–5%) and black carbon (2%). Monthly, seasonal and annual variations of speciated AOD values assisted in understanding aerosols loading over study area.