While revising Saudi Arabia’s policy, President Biden is pursuing a balance that tightens U.S. investigations into Riyadh, without breaking a strategic partnership that marks Sunday’s 76th anniversary, according to current and former U.S. officials. said.
The review of relations with the oil-rich kingdom is broader than reported. Along with the arms sales and the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, it contains an assessment of whether the US has done enough to hold Saudi officials responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and other aspects of the ties between the two countries, U.S. officials. said.
During his campaign, Mr. Biden called Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’. Since then, the new government has set a different tone, emphasizing that the US will help defend the kingdom against attacks by Iranian-backed forces in the region, even as it seeks to end the civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia in 2015 intervened. .
While relations have weakened over the past decade, Washington and Riyadh still need each other in a number of areas, from the fight with Iran to the coordination of terrorism and energy policy, current and former officials have said.
“It’s pretty hard to suggest any kind of strategy in the region that could work if the Saudis are not part of it,” Dennis Ross said. He has served in key Middle Eastern roles among Republican and Democratic presidents.