Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) hosted US State Secretary Antony Blinken in the early hours of 7 June, in what an unnamed US official described to Reuters as an “open, candid” conversation.
The two reportedly met for an hour and forty minutes. They discussed the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the kingdom’s human rights abuses, and the prospect of normalization with Israel.
“They discussed the potential for normalization of relations with Israel and agreed to continued dialogue on the issue,” the US official said, without providing further details.
Blinken arrived in the kingdom just hours after Iran officially reopened its embassy in the Saudi capital, in the latest step of a China-brokered rapprochement deal between the historic rivals.
“We consider today an important day in the relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Bigdeli told a flag-raising ceremony.
“The cooperation between the countries is entering a new era,” he added.
As part of Washington’s second recent high-level trip to the kingdom, Blinken is set to attend an anti-terrorism meeting in Riyadh and meet with foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during his three-day visit.
Earlier this month, US news reports said US President Joe Biden is in a rush to clinch Israel-Saudi normalization before the end of the year. The kingdom is reportedly seeking several large concessions from Washington, including help developing a civilian nuclear program.
On the eve of his Saudi trip, Blinken reiterated during a speech at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) summit that “the US has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
However, he added Washington has “no illusions” that this can be done quickly or easily.”
Since Biden came to power, Saudi Arabia has steadily moved away from Washington’s sphere of influence.
Relations between MbS and Biden got off to a rocky start during the latter’s presidential campaign in 2019, when he said he would treat Riyadh like “the pariah that they are.” Soon after taking office, Biden released an intelligence report showing that the crown prince approved the operation to kidnap and murder Washington Postcolumnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Biden’s visit to the kingdom in July 2022 did little to ease tensions.
Over the past year alone, the kingdom has solidified ties with Russia and China, restored relations with both Iran and Syria, applied to join the BRICS alliance, significantly cut oil production at a time of need for the west, and has even floated dropping the US dollar in oil sales.