Blinken heads to Saudi Arabia to rebuild strained ties
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's three-day trip to long-time ally comes at a time of shifting alliances in the Middle East, centred around a China-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Blinken is expected to meet with top Saudi officials and possibly the kingdom's de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. / Photo: AP Archive
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has travelled to Saudi Arabia 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.
The aims of Tuesday's 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.
Speaking 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 will not happen quickly.
Discouraging a closer Saudi-Chinese relationship is probably the most important element of Blinken's visit, said Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at Washington-based think-tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
"[Blinken should explain] why Chinese interests do not align with Saudi Arabia, and why closer relations in a strategic way inhibit closer relations with Washington," Goldberg said.
Looking forward to my visit to Saudi Arabia, where I will meet Saudi government leaders. I will also participate in the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Ministerial and co-host the Global @coalition to Defeat ISIS Ministerial with Saudi Foreign Minister @FaisalbinFarhan.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 2, 2023
Strained ties
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.
Soon after taking office in 2021, he released a US intelligence assessment that Crown Prince Mohammed approved the operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
A visit by Biden in July 2022 to the kingdom did little to ease tensions, and increasingly, Riyadh has looked to reassert its regional clout, while growing less interested in being aligned with US priorities in the region.
The most recent example was when MbS gave a warm embrace to Syrian regime's Bashar al-Assad at an Arab League summit in May, which saw Arab states readmit Syria after a decade of suspension, a move Washington said it neither supported nor encouraged.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.