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“There are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors that those governors, whether legislative or executive, should be restrained from keeping such instruments on foot but in well-defined cases. Such an instrument is a standing army.”
- Thomas Jefferson, 1789
Iran has invited Saudi Arabia to join the Islamic Republic in a proposed initiative for the global registration of the “intangible cultural heritage” of Iftar, the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims in the holy month of Ramadan.
The invitation was extended by Ali Darabi, the deputy minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of Iran, during a meeting with Saudi assistant minister of Culture, Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq, in Riyadh on Thursday.
Saudi officials have reportedly held direct talks with a delegation from Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement over a permanent ceasefire to end the war, leaving its allied parties in the cold.
Citing informed sources, the Lebanese al-Akhbar daily reported that Omani-mediated negotiations have been taking place between Saudi Arabia and the Sana’a government in Riyadh.
US and Saudi officials are discussing the terms of a potential mutual defense treaty that would be similar to pacts the US has with South Korea and Japan, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The discussions are part of a US effort to broker a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Riyadh’s main demands for normalization is for stronger security guarantees from the US and help in establishing a nuclear program.
A Saudi-owned newspaper reported Sunday that the nation has told the Biden administration it is freezing US-brokered efforts to normalize relations with Israel because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government is unwilling to make any concessions to the Palestinians.
An Israeli and an American official both said the report was false.
The United States is “in regular contact at senior levels with Saudi Arabia about ensuring a stable and affordable supply of energy to global markets”, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says.
The statement on Friday follows International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates announced that oil output cuts – which Saudi Arabia and Russia extended to the end of 2023 – will result in a substantial market deficit through the fourth quarter this year because of high demand.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly informed the United States of its decision to suspend all negotiations on normalizing ties with Israel due to the far-right Israeli cabinet’s unwillingness to make any concessions to the Palestinians.
Saudi Arabia’s $700bn sovereign wealth fund – which has been used as a lever of global influence by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – has been subpoenaed by a powerful Senate committee after it refused to voluntarily comply with information requests about its US dealings.
The New York Times picked September 11th as an opportune day to publish an essay praising “President Joe Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia exchang[ing] a warm handshake” at last week’s G20 summit, and celebrating the possibility of the U.S. giving formal security guarantees to Riyadh in exchange for Saudi Arabia establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday pushed back against plans announced by the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the EU to create a trade corridor that would link South Asia to Europe and bypass Turkey.
In a bid to secure vital metals for their respective energy transitions, the United States and Saudi Arabia are engaged in talks that could reshape the global electric vehicle supply chain.
