Secretary of State Mike Pompeo credited Saudi Arabia with contributing to “the success” of recent diplomatic agreements between Israel and two other Persian Gulf nations.
“We want to thank them for the assistance they’ve had in the success of the Abraham Accords so far,” Pompeo said Wednesday during a joint press appearance with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al Saud. “We hope, too, that the Kingdom will encourage the Palestinian side to return to dialogue and negotiation with Israel.
The statement raises the curtain on Saudi Arabia’s coy public posture after the unveiling of the landmark deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. The Saudi foreign minister responded mildly at the time that the UAE deal “could be viewed as positive” and avoided making a clear endorsement, but the pact was followed by an agreement between Israel and Bahrain — putting two of Riyadh’s closest allies within the accords.
“They reflect a changing dynamic in the region, one in which countries rightly recognize the need for regional cooperation to counter Iranian influence and generate prosperity,” Pompeo said. “We hope Saudi Arabia will consider normalizing its relationships as well.”
Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich monarchy derives moral legitimacy in the Islamic world from its status as the “custodian of the two holy mosques” in Mecca and Medina, lending regional weight to any diplomatic gestures Riyadh makes toward Jerusalem. But the monarchy’s long-standing alliance with Wahhabist clerics in the country, which has contributed to the spread of “a very toxic form of Islam” around the world that increased the threat of terrorism, according to analysts, also impedes such a move, and Saudi leaders have been careful to give only oblique praise for the Arab-Israeli deals.
“Peace in the Middle East is our strategic option,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the United Nations General Assembly last month. ”And we will spare no effort to work together towards achieving a bright future where peace, stability, prosperity, and coexistence among all the region’s peoples prevail.”
The Saudi envoy let Pompeo’s statement about the accords pass without comment, focusing instead on the shared perception that Iran presents a major regional threat.
“We are going to discuss our joint efforts to promote regional stability and security and address common threats, including the Iranian regime continuing destabilizing behavior,” the foreign minister said. “Their development of their nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and their malign activities represent a grave danger to the region and the world. We are both committed to counter and deter Iran’s destabilizing behavior.”
Pompeo echoed that sentiment and touted U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite congressional anger that such deals have been brokered over the objections of lawmakers outraged by the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Today, we reaffirmed our mutual commitment to countering Iranian malign activity and the threat it poses to regional security and prosperity and the security of the American people,” he said. “The United States supports a robust program of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, a line of effort that helps the Kingdom protect its citizens and sustains American jobs.”
