This week, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince and the presumed real leader of the kingdom, arrives in the United States for a lengthy visit.
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Even though many Western analysts and policymakers have praised Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to curb corruption, a closer examination of Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption campaign reveals that its primary aim is to consolidate the crown prince’s power base. He is expected to make stops in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston.
But with Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, visiting the USA to assess ties with the Trump administration, he no longer needs to conduct a desperate search for a new White House point man to replace the president’s demoted son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Ahead of the prince’s visit to the U.K., Saudi Arabia advertised around London with placards declaring “he is creating a new, vibrant Saudi Arabia”. Prince Mohammed locked up dozens of the Saudi business elite in November for about three months in a declared crackdown on corruption.
He will meet Trump on Tuesday at the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders said last week.
Asked about the upcoming summit, Jubeir said he knew of no specific plans.
“Qatar is irrelevant”, he added.
Beyond the Oval Office meeting with Trump, National Security Adviser HR McMaster, believed earlier this month to be possibly leaving the administration, will host a dinner for Prince Mohammed. They’ve cast themselves as essential partners against Islamist extremist groups and, especially since Trump’s maiden overseas voyage past year, touted their lavish purchases of high-tech goods from job-creating American companies.
“Ultimately, discussions will center on how we can find joint ways to make Russian Federation pay a price for its activities in Syria and its support for Iran’s missile proliferation into Yemen, all of which risk deepening this crisis and leading to a major regional catastrophe”, the official said Monday.
“The released parts of the 9/11 reports in U.S. are explicitly revealing some parts of these undeniable facts which show that many of current Saudi officials who are holding different posts now in Saudi Arabia have had bold roles in this terrorist attack”, asserted the Iranian diplomat.
“We continue to engage with our Saudi partners on their plans for civil nuclear program and possibly the United States supply of nuclear equipment expertise and material”, the official said. Jubeir says the Saudi military follows USA targeting standards, and also works to keep humanitarian routes open – but humanitarian groups routinely report being unable to reach ports, towns or cities where some 19 million people are struggling to get enough food.
In the Yemen conflict, USA lawmakers have threatened to withhold American military assistance that the Saudis have used in a bombing campaign that has killed countless civilians and sparked a humanitarian disaster.
Saudi Arabia only started to cut shipments into the U.S.in the second half of a year ago, so the annual average didn’t reflect fully the drop.
Prince Mohammed told CBS in an interview that Iran was protecting al Qaeda operatives, including some of bin Laden’s relatives.
“What we did in Saudi Arabia was extremely necessary”.
While the White House has been largely silent, the US has been providing Saudi Arabia with military support for its war effort there.
From the capital of U.S. finance, he’ll travel to the nation’s technology centers, meeting with philanthropic groups as well as leaders of companies including Google, Apple, and Lockheed Martin Corp.
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The Schork Report publisher Stephen Schork on reports Saudi Aramco may delay its IPO until 2019 and the outlook for oil prices.
