and avoid (Riyadh) forging ever closer ties with Russia and China.” “The challenge with this is that it is in America’s own strategic and economic interests to continue to supply Saudi so it can protect its oil infrastructure.
The most the US can practically do is to halt arms sales to Saudi, said Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East expert at Girton College, Cambridge. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, asked during a briefing on Wednesday about recalibrating the relationship with Riyadh, said that, “certainly, we won’t take our eye off the threat that Iran poses not only to the region but in some ways beyond.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has highlighted a joint Saudi-US interest in maintaining security and military cooperation to help regional stability and provide benefits for the American defense industry. Several Saudi officials have publicly stressed that the OPEC+ decision had nothing to do with politics, but was a technical one based on safeguarding oil market stability in the face of global monetary and fiscal tightening. Riyadh blamed Tehran, which denied responsibility. It says it faces a threat from Iran and its proxies, especially after 2019 attacks that temporarily hit Saudi oil output and shook energy markets. Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, is aware of Riyadh’s oil market power and position as a counterweight to Iran, and may stand firm in the face of US criticism.īut Riyadh’s Achilles heel is security. But US politicians keep on harping on Khashoggi which he admitted was a horrible mistake 4 years ago.” “He has made a great effort since day 1 to signal to the US that he wants excellent ties. “The US is definitely a partner MbS wants to keep close and work with, but he will not allow the country to be at the mercy of the whims of US politicians.” “MbS is a very proud man,” said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator close to the Royal Court. 24 invasion of Ukraine, with Western leaders, including Biden, beating a path to the kingdom asking for more oil in order to combat high inflation and rising borrowing costs. MbS gained some leverage on the world stage after Russia’s Feb. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“They believe the Americans cannot go far in punishing Saudi Arabia so this is a battle of wills and sovereign decision making,” said the source, adding that the Saudis calculated they could absorb “limited” US retaliation options. “The crown prince believes that the US administration has him in its targets and therefore he decided to challenge it and prove the strength of his position within the kingdom and that he does not care about the US stance,” said one Gulf source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Ties were already frayed by Biden’s stance on the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Yemen war and more recently by the US delay, after Prince Mohammed was named prime minister, in granting him status-based immunity in a US lawsuit on the Khashoggi killing. Still, the US-Saudi rift is widening as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MbS, flags his country’s - and his own - importance on the world stage. Washington will not want to do anything to risk the security of the kingdom’s oil sector, any damage to which would send prices spiraling even higher and possibly drive Riyadh closer to China and Russia.įor its part, Riyadh is aware it cannot easily diversify arms supplies for its military, which has been overwhelmingly equipped and trained by the United States ever since the two countries forged their mutually beneficial relationship in 1945.
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Bo7JVPDzFo- Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 October 12, 2022ĭespite the testy exchanges, both sides face constraints in how to pressure each other in practice, according to interviews with analysts and experts in the Gulf. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the statements issued about the Kingdom following the OPEC+ decision.
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