White House: Two US officials have had a visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran and oil.
The White House confirmed the visit of two US officials to Saudi Arabia, stating that one of the goals of the visit was to discuss Iran.
At a news conference on Thursday evening, the White House confirmed earlier reports that US President Joe Biden’s government had traveled to Saudi Arabia, and explained the purpose of the visit.
Earlier, White House Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and US State Department Energy Representative Amos Hatchstein arrived in Riyadh on a secret visit on Tuesday, Axius News reported, citing informed sources.
Sources cited by Axius said the purpose of the trip was to reach an agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia on some bilateral issues, as well as oil.
Reiterating the unsubstantiated allegations against Iran, White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said at a news conference that one of the goals of the trip was to discuss Iran.
“I confirm that Brett McGurk and Amos Hatchstein traveled to the region to discuss a range of issues, including Iran’s destabilizing activities, ensuring global energy supply and other regional issues,” she said.
Biden had said before becoming president that he would turn Saudi Arabia into a “despised state.” Since his presence in the White House, relations between the two countries have been strained over several issues.
One of the issues allegedly sparking a dispute between the Biden government and Saudi Arabia is the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a critical Saudi journalist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. US intelligence has determined that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination.
Earlier, Axius reported that the Biden government was making some covert efforts to mediate between Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt in talks that, if successful, could eventually lead to the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
