As he begins to reshape policy towards Saudi Arabia, President Biden is seeking a balance that tightens US scrutiny of Riyadh, without breaking a strategic partnership that marks his 76th birthday on Sunday, current and former US officials said .
The review of relations with the oil-rich kingdom is broader than has been reported. Along with arms sales and the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, it includes an assessment of whether the United States has done enough to hold the Saudi authorities responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other aspects of the two countries’ ties. said.
During his campaign, Biden called Saudi Arabia an “outcast”. Since then, the new government has adopted a different tone, emphasizing that the U.S. will help defend the kingdom against attacks by Iran-backed forces in the region, even as it calls for an end to the civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia intervened in 2015.
Although relations have eroded in the past decade, Washington and Riyadh still need each other on several fronts, from fighting Iran to coordinating counterterrorism and energy policies, current and former officials said.
“It is very difficult to imagine any kind of strategy in the region that might work if the Saudis are not part of it,” said Dennis Ross, who held key positions in the Middle East under Republican and Democratic presidents.