United States: The US Secretary of State Mr. Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia next week, his first trip to the kingdom since Tehran and Riyadh agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by Beijing.

The Department of State announced that the top United States diplomat will meet with Saudi officials and attend Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) talks during his visit, starting on June 6.

“Mr. Blinken will discuss US-Saudi strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues, including economic and security cooperation”, the State Department noted in a statement.

“The US Secretary of State is also set to co-host a meeting for the global coalition against ISIL (ISIS) to address the continuing threat of ISIS and reaffirm our commitment to ensure its enduring defeat”, the department added.

US officials have repeatedly asserted their commitment to the alliance with Saudi Arabia and to the kingdom’s security. Since Riyadh’s normalisation agreement with Tehran, they have also cautiously welcomed the rapprochement.

“From our perspective, anything that can help reduce tensions, avoid conflict, and curb in any way dangerous or destabilising actions by Iran is a good thing,” Mr. Blinken stated in March 2023 after the deal was announced.

More recently, Saudi Arabia and the US have been cooperating in Sudan, where they have pushed for a ceasefire between the African country’s warring sides.

The recent statement announcing Mr. Blinken’s visit did not mention Yemen, where Washington says it has advocated for an end to the years-long conflict pitting Saudi Arabia and its partners against the country’s Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran.

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