US Secretary of State visits Saudi Arabia in hopes of mending relations

Secretary of State Blinken and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, June 7

Reuters reported that Secretary of State Blinken met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (often referred to as MbS), who plays a very important role in Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, which took place early on June 7, the two sides "discussed enhancing economic cooperation, especially in the fields of technology and clean energy," according to a statement from the US State Department.

A US official later said Mr Blinken and Crown Prince MbS had an “open and candid” conversation. They discussed a range of bilateral issues from Saudi Arabia’s potential normalisation of relations with Israel, to Yemen, Sudan and human rights issues.

"We had a lot of agreement on potential initiatives where we have common interests, while acknowledging our differences," Reuters quoted the US official as saying. The official also said the meeting lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

According to Saudi Arabia's state news agency SPA, the two sides discussed "cooperation in various fields as well as developments in the regional and international situation".

Blinken is also scheduled to meet with other top officials from the Gulf kingdom during his stay in Riyadh and the coastal city of Jeddah. This is the second recent visit by a senior Washington official to Saudi Arabia. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited Saudi Arabia on May 7.

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The top US diplomat's three-day visit (June 6-8) comes after the world's largest oil exporter announced it would continue to cut oil production. This move is likely to add more tension to the already frayed relationship between Washington and Riyadh, due to human rights issues in Saudi Arabia as well as disagreements over US policy towards Iran.

The trip's goals include regaining Washington's influence with Riyadh on oil prices, countering China and Russia's influence in the region, and pushing for normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Speaking at an event ahead of the trip, Mr Blinken said Washington had a "real national security interest" in supporting normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but warned that it would not happen quickly.

The relationship between the current US administration and Saudi Arabia got off to a rocky start in 2019, when President Joe Biden said during his campaign that he would treat Riyadh like a “pariah” if elected. Shortly after taking office in 2021, Biden released a US intelligence assessment that said Crown Prince MbS authorized the capture or killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022 did little to ease tensions, and Riyadh has increasingly sought to increase its influence in surrounding countries, showing less interest in aligning with US priorities in the region.

The most recent example was when the Saudi Crown Prince gave Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a warm hug at the Arab League summit in May. During the event, Arab states re-recognized Syria a decade after suspending Damascus, a move Washington said it neither supported nor encouraged.

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