Saudi Arabia
“These deals are complex and take a great deal of time, but any one thing could spark the right opportunity for a deal to actually be announced and quickly consummated, as we have seen,” former White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt told JNS.
It would include jamming and cyber-takeover capabilities, as well as guns, missiles, electromagnetics and lasers able to destroy a drone.
Jim Philips, a senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation, said the Biden administration’s early efforts to distance itself from Saudi Arabia “could give Israel additional influence because Riyadh may seek to stave off further criticisms from Washington by underscoring its warming ties with Jerusalem.”
Going forward, the kingdom’s actions will determine how much of the two countries’ “ambitious” shared agenda can be achieved.
The move is a reversal of U.S. relations under the Trump administration, which had maintained steady contact with Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “MBS.”
“The development of the Iranian nuclear program and the ballistic missile project endanger the entire region,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud tells an emergency meeting of the Arab League.
Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S. policy in the Mideast, says the review signals “reservations” in the Democratic Party, although the president is likely to make the final call.
Tehran’s announcement comes in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for any new dialogue to include Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. State Department called the hold “a routine administrative action,” as new administrations usually review such matters.
An Israeli official tells a London-based Arabic news outlet that the Saudis have cut off all behind-the-scenes coordination with Israel.
Foreign-policy professionals seemed to view the breakthrough, which was brokered by the United States and Kuwait, with a natural skepticism, as the country has long been a regional maverick.
Defense Security Cooperation Agency also approves a $4 billion deal with Kuwait for the purchase and remanufacture of attack helicopters.
