US relations with Saudi reach breaking point amid oil standoff
Relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have hit their lowest in decades over Riyadh’s reluctance to increase oil production to bring down gasoline prices in the global market.
According to Press TV, Biden administration had urged Riyadh to boost production and bring down prices after it banned imports of Russian oil and gas in the wake of the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.
But the request was turned down by the Saudi regime, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Arab country’s de-facto ruler, reportedly snubbing President Joe Biden's phone calls.
A report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said Washington has given up asking Riyadh to produce more oil after being repeatedly rebuffed by the Arab kingdom.
The report cited a senior US official saying that after abandoning its efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to scale up its oil production, the Biden administration is now asking Riyadh to refrain from doing anything that would hurt the Western campaign against Russia in Ukraine.
The Saudi regime is reportedly miffed with Biden's cold-shouldering of MBS, criticism of the kingdom's human rights records, and gradual decline in support for the Saudi-led coalition in war-ravaged Yemen.
The murder of dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the direct orders of MBS has figured prominently in talks between the two sides, fueling tensions.
After the US spy agency CIA concluded that the young crown prince had ordered the murder of Khashoggi in 2018, the White House in February effectively downgraded his status to the defense minister, while recognizing his father King Salman as Biden's counterpart.
The report said MBS is annoyed by the claims that he ordered the killing of Khashoggi as well as the Biden administration’s decision to take out Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement from the list of terrorist organizations.
The murder of dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the direct orders of MBS has figured prominently in talks between the two sides, fueling tensions.
After the US spy agency CIA concluded that the young crown prince had ordered the murder of Khashoggi in 2018, the White House in February effectively downgraded his status to the defense minister, while recognizing his father King Salman as Biden's counterpart.
The report said MBS is annoyed by the claims that he ordered the killing of Khashoggi as well as the Biden administration’s decision to take out Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement from the list of terrorist organizations.
ME
