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Saudi Arabia welcomed Biden’s “commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it.”
Friday 05/02/2021
US President Joe Biden speaks about foreign policy at the State Department in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2021. (AFP)
WASHINGTON – Saudi Arabia reaffirmed Friday its support for a “comprehensive political solution” in Yemen after US President Joe Biden announced the day before he was making good on his campaign commitment to end US support for a five-year Saudi-led offensive in Yemen.
At the same time, Washington made it clear it won’t abandon US military assistance for the kingdom and plans to help Saudi Arabia strengthen its own defences, acknowledging the continued threat posed by Iran to its Gulf neighbours and to US interests in the region.
“The kingdom has affirmed its firm position in support of a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, and welcomes the US emphasis on the importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia also welcomed Biden’s “commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it,” it added.
The statement did not address Biden’s pledge to terminate US support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen.
“We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales,” Biden said Thursday in his first major speech on foreign affairs.
As he reiterated US commitment to the defence of Saudi Arabia’s security, Biden cited Iran’s threats to the kingdom. “Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and other attacks from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to help Saudi Arabia to defend its territory and its people,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has come under repeated missile and drone attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels since it launched a military intervention against them in 2015.
“We welcome President Biden’s stated commitment to work with friends and allies to resolve conflicts, and deal with attacks from Iran & its proxies in the region,” Prince Khalid bin Salman, the kingdom’s deputy defence minister, wrote on Twitter.
“We look forward to continue working with our American partners to alleviate the humanitarian situation and find a solution to the Yemen crisis,” he added.
Prince Khalid also welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking as a US special envoy for Yemen. Biden said Lenderking would support UN efforts to reach a ceasefire and revive peace talks between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused regional rival Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies but documented many times by UN reports.
— Complex relationship —
Biden’s approach reflects the complexity of the US-Saudi relationship. While he is taking a tougher line than his predecessors, he and his foreign policy team recognise the US can’t allow relations to unravel nor underestimate the Iran-related security challenges.
Acknowledging possible differences, they stress the importance of maintaining aspects of a military, counterterrorism and security relationship seen as vital for security of both nations and the economically-vital Gulf region.
“The United States will cooperate with Saudi Arabia where our priorities align and will not shy away from defending US interests and values where they do not,” the State Department said.
The aligned priorities have included a longstanding US emphasis on playing a lead defending the kingdom and its oil from attacks that would jolt the world’s energy markets and economies. US leaders also see Saudi Arabia as a regional counterweight to Iran.
Biden said Thursday that the offensive in Yemen has “created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.” He said he would stop arms sales related to the Yemen offensive, but gave no immediate details what that might mean.
But commitment to defending Saudi security will include helping protect Saudi territory, critical infrastructure and shipping routes from the kingdom’s opponents in neighbouring Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthis, the State Department said.
The Biden administration has yet to spell out how it plans to boost the kingdom’s defence.
The statement did not address Biden’s pledge to terminate US support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen.
— Complex relationship —
Biden’s approach reflects the complexity of the US-Saudi relationship. While he is taking a tougher line than his predecessors, he and his foreign policy team recognise the US can’t allow relations to unravel nor underestimate the Iran-related security challenges.
Acknowledging possible differences, they stress the importance of maintaining aspects of a military, counterterrorism and security relationship seen as vital for security of both nations and the economically-vital Gulf region.
“The United States will cooperate with Saudi Arabia where our priorities align and will not shy away from defending US interests and values where they do not,” the State Department said.
The aligned priorities have included a longstanding US emphasis on playing a lead defending the kingdom and its oil from attacks that would jolt the world’s energy markets and economies. US leaders also see Saudi Arabia as a regional counterweight to Iran.
Biden said Thursday that the offensive in Yemen has “created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.” He said he would stop arms sales related to the Yemen offensive, but gave no immediate details what that might mean.
But commitment to defending Saudi security will include helping protect Saudi territory, critical infrastructure and shipping routes from the kingdom’s opponents in neighbouring Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthis, the State Department said.
The Biden administration has yet to spell out how it plans to boost the kingdom’s defence.
Saudi F-15 Eagles flying in formation with their US Air Force counterparts and a USAF KC-135E Stratotanker jet (L, top) in the US CENTCOM area of responsibility, on June 2, 2020. (AFP)
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and critic of US involvement in the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, agreed that the US may still have a security interest in helping guard the kingdom.
“Our focus should be providing basic defensive capabilities to help Riyadh defend itself from external threats, not fighting those threats for the Saudis,” Murphy said.
But the US should provide no “additional military support to Saudi Arabia unless we can clearly conclude that support…will not be used as irresponsibly as it has been in Yemen,” he said.
The criticism by congressional Democrats of the US role in the war in Yemen have been rejected in the past by US defence officials who have always stressed the useful role played by US intelligence backup to the Saudi-led alliance in identifying the exact locations of the Iran-backed forces from where attacks against civilians have been launched, hence sparing the lives of innocent civilians.
It was also the Obama administration — focused at the time on closing a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia’s rival, Iran — that green-lighted Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen.
Murphy called the kingdom an important partner nonetheless, and said he would work with the administration to reset relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia led the United Arab Emirates and other Arab nations in launching a war targeting Iran-aligned Houthi militias who had seized territory including the ancient city of Sana’a in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.
The stalled war, however, has failed to dislodge the Houthis and is deepening hunger and poverty. International rights advocates say Yemen’s Houthis have committed abuses, including repeated attacks on civilians.
The murder of a US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the treatment by Riyadh of women activists and other peaceful advocates have been among the contentious issues highlighted by critics of Saudi Arabia in the US Congress and the media.
— Conciliatory tone —
In recent days, the kingdom has been conciliatory as the Biden administration settles in. It said Thursday it welcomes international diplomacy in the Yemen conflict. Its leaders stressed the shared history and cooperation on intelligence, education and other matters.
On Thursday, in what was seen as the latest gesture to Biden, the kingdom conditionally released two dual Saudi-American citizens held in a crackdown on civil society and shortened the sentence of a third, the State Department said. The latter, Dr Walid Fitaihi, had been convicted of “disobedience” to the government.
“I believe we will have a great relationship with them, because all the pillars upon which the relationship stands are still there,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Saudi-funded Al Arabiya television about Biden officials.
It’s not yet clear how far Biden will go in fulfilling his campaign pledge to stop the multibillion US arms trade with Saudi Arabia.
Ultimately, stepped-up US pledges to help defend Saudi Arabia could encourage the kingdom to give up on its Yemen offensive and pursue more aggressively the search for a peaceful settlement, experts say.
https://thearabweekly.com/biden-reiterates-us-support-saudi-arabia-ends-role-yemen-offensive
Friday 05/02/2021
WASHINGTON – Saudi Arabia reaffirmed Friday its support for a “comprehensive political solution” in Yemen after US President Joe Biden announced the day before he was making good on his campaign commitment to end US support for a five-year Saudi-led offensive in Yemen.
At the same time, Washington made it clear it won’t abandon US military assistance for the kingdom and plans to help Saudi Arabia strengthen its own defences, acknowledging the continued threat posed by Iran to its Gulf neighbours and to US interests in the region.
“The kingdom has affirmed its firm position in support of a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, and welcomes the US emphasis on the importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia also welcomed Biden’s “commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it,” it added.
The statement did not address Biden’s pledge to terminate US support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen.
“We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales,” Biden said Thursday in his first major speech on foreign affairs.
As he reiterated US commitment to the defence of Saudi Arabia’s security, Biden cited Iran’s threats to the kingdom. “Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and other attacks from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to help Saudi Arabia to defend its territory and its people,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has come under repeated missile and drone attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels since it launched a military intervention against them in 2015.
“We welcome President Biden’s stated commitment to work with friends and allies to resolve conflicts, and deal with attacks from Iran & its proxies in the region,” Prince Khalid bin Salman, the kingdom’s deputy defence minister, wrote on Twitter.
“We look forward to continue working with our American partners to alleviate the humanitarian situation and find a solution to the Yemen crisis,” he added.
Prince Khalid also welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking as a US special envoy for Yemen. Biden said Lenderking would support UN efforts to reach a ceasefire and revive peace talks between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused regional rival Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies but documented many times by UN reports.
— Complex relationship —
Biden’s approach reflects the complexity of the US-Saudi relationship. While he is taking a tougher line than his predecessors, he and his foreign policy team recognise the US can’t allow relations to unravel nor underestimate the Iran-related security challenges.
Acknowledging possible differences, they stress the importance of maintaining aspects of a military, counterterrorism and security relationship seen as vital for security of both nations and the economically-vital Gulf region.
“The United States will cooperate with Saudi Arabia where our priorities align and will not shy away from defending US interests and values where they do not,” the State Department said.
The aligned priorities have included a longstanding US emphasis on playing a lead defending the kingdom and its oil from attacks that would jolt the world’s energy markets and economies. US leaders also see Saudi Arabia as a regional counterweight to Iran.
Biden said Thursday that the offensive in Yemen has “created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.” He said he would stop arms sales related to the Yemen offensive, but gave no immediate details what that might mean.
But commitment to defending Saudi security will include helping protect Saudi territory, critical infrastructure and shipping routes from the kingdom’s opponents in neighbouring Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthis, the State Department said.
The Biden administration has yet to spell out how it plans to boost the kingdom’s defence.
The statement did not address Biden’s pledge to terminate US support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen.
— Complex relationship —
Biden’s approach reflects the complexity of the US-Saudi relationship. While he is taking a tougher line than his predecessors, he and his foreign policy team recognise the US can’t allow relations to unravel nor underestimate the Iran-related security challenges.
Acknowledging possible differences, they stress the importance of maintaining aspects of a military, counterterrorism and security relationship seen as vital for security of both nations and the economically-vital Gulf region.
“The United States will cooperate with Saudi Arabia where our priorities align and will not shy away from defending US interests and values where they do not,” the State Department said.
The aligned priorities have included a longstanding US emphasis on playing a lead defending the kingdom and its oil from attacks that would jolt the world’s energy markets and economies. US leaders also see Saudi Arabia as a regional counterweight to Iran.
Biden said Thursday that the offensive in Yemen has “created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.” He said he would stop arms sales related to the Yemen offensive, but gave no immediate details what that might mean.
But commitment to defending Saudi security will include helping protect Saudi territory, critical infrastructure and shipping routes from the kingdom’s opponents in neighbouring Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthis, the State Department said.
The Biden administration has yet to spell out how it plans to boost the kingdom’s defence.
Saudi F-15 Eagles flying in formation with their US Air Force counterparts and a USAF KC-135E Stratotanker jet (L, top) in the US CENTCOM area of responsibility, on June 2, 2020. (AFP)
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and critic of US involvement in the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, agreed that the US may still have a security interest in helping guard the kingdom.
“Our focus should be providing basic defensive capabilities to help Riyadh defend itself from external threats, not fighting those threats for the Saudis,” Murphy said.
But the US should provide no “additional military support to Saudi Arabia unless we can clearly conclude that support…will not be used as irresponsibly as it has been in Yemen,” he said.
The criticism by congressional Democrats of the US role in the war in Yemen have been rejected in the past by US defence officials who have always stressed the useful role played by US intelligence backup to the Saudi-led alliance in identifying the exact locations of the Iran-backed forces from where attacks against civilians have been launched, hence sparing the lives of innocent civilians.
It was also the Obama administration — focused at the time on closing a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia’s rival, Iran — that green-lighted Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen.
Murphy called the kingdom an important partner nonetheless, and said he would work with the administration to reset relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia led the United Arab Emirates and other Arab nations in launching a war targeting Iran-aligned Houthi militias who had seized territory including the ancient city of Sana’a in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.
The stalled war, however, has failed to dislodge the Houthis and is deepening hunger and poverty. International rights advocates say Yemen’s Houthis have committed abuses, including repeated attacks on civilians.
The murder of a US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the treatment by Riyadh of women activists and other peaceful advocates have been among the contentious issues highlighted by critics of Saudi Arabia in the US Congress and the media.
— Conciliatory tone —
In recent days, the kingdom has been conciliatory as the Biden administration settles in. It said Thursday it welcomes international diplomacy in the Yemen conflict. Its leaders stressed the shared history and cooperation on intelligence, education and other matters.
On Thursday, in what was seen as the latest gesture to Biden, the kingdom conditionally released two dual Saudi-American citizens held in a crackdown on civil society and shortened the sentence of a third, the State Department said. The latter, Dr Walid Fitaihi, had been convicted of “disobedience” to the government.
“I believe we will have a great relationship with them, because all the pillars upon which the relationship stands are still there,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Saudi-funded Al Arabiya television about Biden officials.
It’s not yet clear how far Biden will go in fulfilling his campaign pledge to stop the multibillion US arms trade with Saudi Arabia.
Ultimately, stepped-up US pledges to help defend Saudi Arabia could encourage the kingdom to give up on its Yemen offensive and pursue more aggressively the search for a peaceful settlement, experts say.
https://thearabweekly.com/biden-reiterates-us-support-saudi-arabia-ends-role-yemen-offensive
