Saudi crown prince, Blinken had 'candid' talks in Jeddah -US official
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[June 07, 2023]
By Humeyra Pamuk and Aziz El Yaakoubi
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
had an "open, candid" conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman in the early hours of Wednesday about a wide range of bilateral
issues, a U.S. official said.
The top U.S. diplomat arrived in Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday for a much
anticipated visit amid frayed ties due to deepening disagreements on
everything from Iran policy to regional security issues, oil prices and
human rights.
Washington has struggled to steady the relationship with Riyadh, where
the de facto ruler Prince Mohammed has dominated the decision-making,
and as the traditional oil-for-security alliance crumbled under the
emergence of the United States as a major oil producer.
Blinken's visit came days after top crude exporter Saudi Arabia pledged
to deepen oil output cuts on top of a broader OPEC+ deal to limit
supply, as it seeks to boost flagging oil prices despite opposition from
the U.S. administration.
Blinken and the crown prince, known as MbS, met for an hour and forty
minutes, a U.S. official said, covering topics including Israel, the
conflict in Yemen, unrest in Sudan as well as human rights.
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"There was a good degree of convergence on potential initiatives where
we share the same interests, while also recognising where we have
differences," the U.S. official said.
A good part of the discussion was expected to be dominated by the
possible normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, even
though officials had played down the likelihood of any immediate or
major progress on the issue.
"They discussed the potential for normalization of relations with Israel
and agreed to continued dialogue on the issue," the U.S. official said,
without providing further details.
Saudi Arabia, a Middle East powerhouse and home to Islam's two holiest
shrines, gave its blessing to Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain establishing relations with Israel in 2020 under the previous
U.S. administration of Donald Trump.
Riyadh has not followed suit, saying Palestinian statehood goals should
be addressed first. In April, Saudi Arabia restored ties with Iran, a
regional rival and Israel's arch-foe.
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY
Developing a civilian nuclear programme is among Riyadh's conditions for
normalising ties with Israel, a source familiar with the discussions
said, confirming a New York Times report from March. Saudi or U.S.
officials have not publicly confirmed that.
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![](../images/060723PIX/news_n25.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, June 7, 2023. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal
Court/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/07/images/ads/current/graue_lda_preowned_060223.jpg)
However U.S. officials have said in the past they would share
nuclear power technology only if the agreement prevents enrichment
of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium made in reactors - two
routes to making nuclear weapons.
Riyadh has also leveraged its growing relationship with China as
Washington pushed back against some of its demands including lifting
restrictions on arms sales and help with sensitive high-tech
industries.
Two days after Blinken's visit, Riyadh will host a major
Arab-Chinese investment conference.
Jonathan Fulton, non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council,
said China would help the Saudis in sectors where the U.S. won't but
the relationship between Riyadh and Beijing did not have the same
depth as with Washington.
"At this point I'd still characterize the U.S.-Saudi relationship as
strategic and the China-Saudi relationship as transactional," Fulton
said.
Hours before departing for Saudi Arabia, at a speech in Washington,
Blinken said the United States had a "real national security
interest" in advocating for normalising Saudi-Israeli ties but
cautioned about the time frame.
"We have no illusions that this can be done quickly or easily,"
Blinken said.
MbS and Blinken also discussed Yemen and potential ways to resolve
remaining issues, while Blinken thanked the crown prince for the
kingdom's role in pushing for a ceasefire in Sudan and helping
evacuate U.S. citizens.
Blinken also raised human rights issues with MbS, the U.S. official
said, both on a broad level and relating to specific cases, although
did not say which cases.
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The kingdom has been pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into
transforming and opening its economy to reduce dependence on crude
oil. The reforms have been accompanied by a raft of arrests of
critics of MbS, as well as of businessmen, clerics and rights
activists.
Most recently in March, Saudi authorities released a U.S. citizen
jailed for 19 years for posting criticism of the government on
Twitter but he has remained banned from travelling.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Aziz El Yaakoubi and Maha El Dahan;
Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Potter)
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