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The White House told reporters on Tuesday that Joe Biden would deal directly with King Salman rather than his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (above) © Reuter |
During the election campaign, Joe Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are”, underscoring his intention to unpick one of Donald Trump’s most transactional foreign policy relationships.
Since taking office, Biden has frozen the sale of some arms to Saudi Arabia and ended support for the kingdom’s six-year war in Yemen, but an aerial attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on a civilian plane in Saudi Arabia last week — an escalation of the conflict — made clear how complicated the relationship is.
Antony Blinken, Biden’s secretary of state, warned the US would “not stand by” while the Houthis launched such attacks and was committed to “bolster” Saudi Arabia’s defences against the incursions.
Analysts say balancing reproach for Riyadh’s poor human rights record under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s leadership against the kingdom’s traditional role as an important security and intelligence ally in the Middle East will be a difficult task to pull off.
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