As United States (US) President Joe Biden embarks on his first Middle-East tour as President today, he clarified that he was visiting Saudi Arabia on Friday in order to “reorient—but not rupture—relations with a country that’s been a strategic partner for 80 years.”
In an opinion piece for the Washington Times on Saturday, Biden wrote that to counter Russia’s aggression and to “outcompete China,” “we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes” and that Saudi Arabia is one of them. “My aim will be to strengthen a strategic partnership going forward that’s based on mutual interests and responsibilities, while also holding true to fundamental American values,” he said, adding that human rights and fundamental freedoms will be on the agenda in meetings with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS).
Opinion by Joe Biden: This trip comes at a vital time for the region, and it will advance important American interests. https://t.co/R7FCKigWEk
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 11, 2022
The US President also revealed that Washington had reversed the “blank cheque” policy inherited from the Trump administration. He further acknowledged that the region is “less pressurised and more integrated” than 18 months ago and expressed his confidence that Washington can strengthen the “promising trends” further.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, US National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan said that the US needs to be intensively engaged in the Middle East, as the region is “interwoven with the rest of the world.” “And if we can act now to create a more peaceful and stable region, it will pay dividends for the American national interests and for the American people for years to come,” he remarked.
.@SecBlinken will travel with @POTUS to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia this week. As we engage with other nations on our interests, advocating for human rights and fundamental freedoms will also be a vital part of the agenda: https://t.co/VcKN75YTmu
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) July 12, 2022
Sullivan said Biden’s objective is for the region to: become more stable with “fewer wars” (particularly without the involvement of the US), be less hospitable to terrorism, make progress towards “greater human rights,” and address global energy security issues in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also emphasised that Biden hopes to ensure that “no foreign power can dominate or gain strategic advantage” over the US, referring to the growing ties between Saudi Arabia and China.
“Our diplomacy with Saudi Arabia is now delivering results, including a truce in Yemen, a more integrated Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), progress on energy security, and security cooperation against threats from Iran,” Sullivan revealed, adding that Washington welcomed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) “meaningful” decision to increase oil production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August.
Sullivan emphasised that bringing down the prices of oil and gas is an “important component” of Biden’s Saudi Arabia visit, which would require “intensive engagement” to create a positive impact.
The NSA also highlighted that one of the objectives of Biden’s tour is to “help facilitate Israel’s deeper integration into the region,” specifically with Saudi Arabia. Though he acknowledged that it would be a “long process,” the US was focused on “progress and momentum in that direction.”
Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia comes against the backdrop of ties being increasingly frayed between the two countries, owing to the murder of the US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which, according to the US Intelligence, was approved by MBS. It led to Biden promising to make a “pariah” out of Saudi Arabia during his presidential election campaign in 2019. Despite Riyadh vehemently denying those claims, the Biden administration issued a visa ban against 76 Saudi officials and also sanctioned Saudi Arabia’s Rapid Intervention Force involved in the Khashoggi killing.
“My administration has made clear that the United States will not tolerate extraterritorial threats and harassment against dissidents and activists by any government,” Biden stated in his op-ed on Saturday.
Biden heads to Saudi to meet MbS this week
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) July 12, 2022
Macron is hosting the Emirati ruler next week
The West is begging for oil. And (some, perhaps not a lot, but some) more oil will come. #OOTT
The Saudi government retaliated by opting to not ramp up oil production despite repeated US requests in light of rising gas prices following the Ukraine war. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has also stepped up economic, defence, and political cooperation with US’ rival China. In fact, before the Ukraine war, Riyadh became Beijing’s top oil supplier, with China importing 25% of Saudi Arabia’s total oil exports.
Riyadh has also expressed disappointment over Washington’s lack of military support for Saudi’s ongoing intervention in the Yemeni civil war and was hugely dismayed at the White House’s decision to remove the Houthi rebels from its terrorist organisation list. Furthermore, it has been angered by the US’ repeated attempts to negotiate with Iran, which backs the Houthis. It is also firmly against the revival of the nuclear deal, which world powers have been deliberating on in Vienna (and now Doha) since last April.
In April, the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition agreed to a United Nations (UN)-sponsored two-month truce for the first time since 2016, which was extended for another two months in June. Following the announcement, Biden praised Riyadh for demonstrating “courageous leadership” and “taking initiatives early on to endorse and implement terms of the UN-led truce.”
Biden would also hope to garner Saudi Arabia’s support in forming a regional policy on Iran in light of Tehran getting increasingly close to creating a nuclear bomb, especially after former US President Donald Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. “We want the Saudis to feel that the US is committed to its security long term, and that, in turn, the Saudis are committed to US national security interests as well,” Richard Goldberg, a senior National Security Council advisor on Iran in the Trump administration, has said.
In this regard, Biden mentioned getting the support of 30 countries in condemning Tehran’s lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that Iran is “isolated” now, not the US.