The Herald E-Edition

Blinken on visit to Saudi Arabia

US secretary of state Antony Blinken travelled to Saudi Arabia yesterday on a mission to steady Washington’s relationship with Riyadh after years of deepening disagreements on issues ranging from Iran and regional security to oil prices.

Blinken is expected to meet top Saudi officials and possibly the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, during his time in Riyadh, the capital, and the coastal city of Jeddah, in what will be the second recent US high-level visit.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan travelled to Saudi Arabia on May 7.

The top US diplomat’s visit to the world’s largest oil exporter comes days after Riyadh pledged to further cut oil production, a move likely to add tension to a US-Saudi relationship already strained by the kingdom’s human rights record and disputes over Iran policy.

The aims of the trip include regaining influence with Riyadh over oil prices, fending off Chinese and Russian influence in the region, and nurturing hopes for an eventual normalisation of Saudi-Israeli ties.

At the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public

Affairs Committee on Monday, Blinken said Washington had a real national security interest in advocating for the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but cautioned that it would not happen quickly.

Discouraging a closer SaudiChinese relationship was probably the most important element of Blinken’s visit, Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at Washington-based think-tank, the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said.

US-Saudi ties were off to a rocky start in 2019 when President Joe Biden during his campaign said he would treat Riyadh like “the pariah that they are” if he was elected, and soon after taking office in 2021 released a US intelligence assessment that Crown Prince Mohammed approved the operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Biden’s visit in July last year did little to ease tensions, and increasingly Riyadh has looked to reassert its regional clout.

MBS gave a warm embrace to Syrian President Bashar alAssad at an Arab League summit last month, when Syria was readmitted after a decade of suspension.

World

en-za

2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://herald.pressreader.com/article/281651079501891

Arena Holdings PTY