A US official reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern about human rights during his meeting Tuesday night with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they had an open and frank conversation that covered a wide range of regional and bilateral issues. Blinken raised the issue of human rights both in general terms and in relation to specific issues.
The meeting, which lasted one hour and forty minutes, touched on a number of issues, including Saudi Arabia’s support for US evacuations in Sudan, the need for political dialogue in Yemen, and the possible normalization of relations with Israel.
Blinken’s three-day visit comes at a time when US-Saudi relations, which have historically focused on energy and defense, have been strained by the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents.
In addition, the US was upset when Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s largest oil exporter, refused to help lower crude oil prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Human rights advocates, such as Abdulah Al Qahtani, a US citizen whose father, Mohamad Al Qahtani, was imprisoned for 10 years for funding a civil rights group in Saudi Arabia, urged Blinken to raise their concerns during the meeting.