President Joe Biden pledged on Tuesday that there will be consequences for US relations with Saudi Arabia after OPEC announced last week that it would cut its oil production target over US objections.
His announcement came a day after powerful Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US must immediately freeze all co-operation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales. Biden, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, would not discuss what options he was considering.
The US accused Saudi Arabia of kowtowing to Russia, which objected to a Western cap on the price of Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US officials had been quietly trying to persuade its biggest Arab partner to abandon the idea of a production cut but Saudi Arabia’s de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was not swayed.
Bin Salman and Biden had clashed during Biden’s visit to Jeddah in July, over the death in 2018 of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
US intelligence says the crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, who was murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
The prince, son of King Salman, 86, has denied ordering the killing but acknowledged it took place under my watch. Biden said in July that he had told the prince he thought he was responsible.
Source: IOL
In other news – The former Post Office CEO regrets resigning
Former Post Office CEO Mark Barnes says he regrets resigning from the job. He resigned in 2019 after just over three years at the helm.
Talking to JJ Tabane on Power to Truth, Barnes said when government was making changes, he should have stayed and fought for what he believed in. Learn more
