Blinken Discusses ‘Human Rights’ with Saudi Crown Prince in Awkward Follow-Up Act to Nicolás Maduro

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday local time for the first of his major engagements in Saudi Arabia, reportedly discussing, among other issues, “progress on human rights” and “clean energy.”

Blinken landed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for what is expected to be a fraught visit given the deterioration of relations between Washington and Riyadh under far-left President Joe Biden, who declared as a candidate in 2020 that he would turn the longtime U.S. ally into a “pariah” state.

Apparently mindful of the comment, the Saudi government, headed by bin Salman (known commonly by his initials MBS), has changed its foreign policy in the past two years to move closer to America’s enemies, most prominently China and Iran.

Blinken’s meeting with MBS followed the official reopening of Iran’s embassy in Riyadh and a visit by Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, an Iranian ally who had previously no significant relationship with Saudi Arabia.

The State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Blinken used his meeting with MBS to prioritize the war on terrorism, particularly efforts to ensure the Islamic State does not pose a renewed threat to the Middle East – the group is currently most active in southern Africa – and efforts against the Shiite Houthi terrorists in Yemen. Among the many policies Biden has enacted that have infuriated the Saudis, the president stripped the Iran-backed Houthis of a foreign terrorist organization designation as one of his first acts in office, granting them greater financial opportunities and preceding a string of terror attacks jeopardizing the Saudi oil industry.

Blinken and MBS reportedly “affirmed their shared commitment to advance stability, security, and prosperity across the Middle East and beyond,” according to the State Department.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry shared photos and video of the encounter, featuring a somber crown prince.

“The Secretary also emphasized that our bilateral relationship is strengthened by progress on human rights,” the statement by spokesperson Matthew Miller read, without elaborating on the nature of the alleged human rights talks. Other topics mentioned include “clean energy” and the war in Sudan.

The Emirati newspaper the National reported that the two met after midnight in Jeddah and spoke for nearly two hours, citing an anonymous American official who described the talks as “candid.” The newspaper listed the nation’s foreign minister and national security adviser as attending the meeting alongside the crown prince.

Reuters, apparently citing the same unnamed official, also described the talks as “candid” and celebrated “a good degree of convergence” on mutual interests. According to the news agency, Blinken also raised the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, a top he had mentioned as a priority before leaving Washington.

“The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said in remarks to the organization AIPAC this weekend.

The two sides reportedly culminated the discussion of Israel with a promise to continue “discussions.”

Reuters mentioned another topic as a priority for America in a report on Monday, prior to Blinken’s arrival: Saudi Arabia’s growing relationship with China. Citing a think tank expert, Reuters described urging the Saudis to back away from the blossoming friendship with Beijing as “probably the most important element of Blinken’s visit.” China did not appear as a top in the State Department readout of their meeting or other reports on what was discussed.

MBS has spearheaded efforts to forge a closer relationship with China, founded on Saudi Arabia – the custodian of the holiest sites in Islam – ignoring the fact that China has spent the past five years engaging in a campaign of genocide against its Turkic Muslim populations. Saudi officials have gone so far as to arrest individuals expressing concern in the country over the Uyghur genocide and honored communist dictator Xi Jinping with an effusive welcome to the country during his visit in December, a stark contrast to the icy reception Biden was offered last summer.

For his troubles, China has rewarded MBS with a prime position in the country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global debt trap program that ensnares poorer countries with predatory loans presumably meant to be used to pay for infrastructure projects the countries cannot afford. While most BRI partners are loan recipients, Beijing offered Saudi Arabia a partnership in which it can fund the projects to poorer countries – the position of beneficiary rather than victim.

China also helped Saudi Arabia broker a surprise truce with Iran, its longtime top geopolitical rival. Beijing hosted talks between the two countries that culminated in the restoration of diplomatic ties in March and the return of flights connecting the two countries. Iran reopened its embassy in Riyadh the day before Blinken landed in Jeddah, granting China a major diplomatic victory.

On the same day, MBS made his last foreign engagement before his meeting with Blinken an in-person discussion with Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator. The United States is offering a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, which MBS could have presumably offered given knowledge of his location on Monday.

Official photos of Maduro with a beaming crown prince appeared on the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s social media accounts on Monday.

The two leaders reportedly discussed “prospects for cooperation and opportunities to enhance them in various field.”

“We arrived at the Royal Palace in Jeddah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to develop a working agenda seeking to consolidate the relations we maintain with this friendly country,” Maduro wrote on Twitter, celebrating the visit. “Venezuela is firm in unity and the construction of a new world.”

Venezuelan news outlets suggested the two could cooperate on oil refining or other aspects of the petroleum industry.

Blinken is expected to conclude his visit on Thursday after joining a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

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