President Barack Obama travels Tuesday to Saudi Arabia to pay respects following the death of King Abdullah, giving him a chance to move past recent friction in a crucial strategic alliance.
Obama will discuss with the new King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud cooperation in fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the unrest in neighboring Yemen and U.S.-led negotiations with Iran, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Monday. Human rights, a regular point of contention, also will be on the agenda.
“President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia is far more than a symbolic gesture of continuing U.S. support for the kingdom at a time of transition in its top leadership,” David Ottaway, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said in an e-mail. “It signals his acknowledgment of its crucial role in showing Arab support for the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”
The visit is an opportunity for Obama to size up the new king as the leader of a nation that long has been a linchpin of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Salman, 79, is less known to the U.S. than Abdullah, who had been an ally of U.S. presidents of both political parties. The Saudis have been skeptical of slow U.S. progress on stability in Syria and an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.
“This is both marking King Abdullah’s life and his partnership with the United States but it’s also a period of succession in Saudi Arabia,” Rhodes said. “We have many ongoing projects and initiatives with Saudi Arabia that are important.”
The two nations have differed on dealing with the civil war in Syria and on how best to engage with Iran, a rival to Saudi influence in the region. Saudi Arabia is important for U.S. efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program and counter growing turmoil in Yemen, where the government collapsed amid a rebellion by Shiite Houthi forces. The U.S. closed its consulate there to the public on Monday.
While Saudi Arabia has chafed at the U.S. patience for an Iran nuclear agreement, the two countries were aligned in supporting the now-deposed Yemeni government that was ousted by the Houthis. Gulf Arab monarchies accuse Iran of backing the Shiite group.
Obama and Salman will probably discuss the Iranian nuclear talks, Ottaway said.
“The Saudis fear an agreement would lead to a U.S.-Iranian rapprochement at their expenses,” he said. “Obama will doubtlessly seek to reassure Salman of continued American support for the security of the kingdom regardless of the outcome.”
Obama hasn’t talked about Saudi Arabia in the context of oil prices. Rhodes didn’t list oil as part of the agenda for today’s talk.
“Salman is unlikely to signal any immediate change in Saudi policy, which has been long in the making inside the ruling al-Saud family in its bid to re-establish command over production and price levels,” Ottaway said.
Republican Heavyweights
Obama cut short a visit to India, irking the Indian people by canceling a visit Tuesday to the Taj Mahal in Agra to stop in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, on his way home to Washington. While Obama doesn’t usually make condolence calls, it’s important to greet Abdullah’s family because he was a sitting head of state when he died, Rhodes said.
Obama is leading a bipartisan 30-person delegation that includes Republican foreign policy heavyweights, including James Baker, secretary of state at the time of the first Persian Gulf war in 1991; Condoleeza Rice, who held the same job during the 2003 Iraq war; and Brent Scowcroft, who served two Republican presidents as national security adviser.
In Riyadh, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are scheduled to have dinner at Erga Palace after the president and Salman meet.
Uncertain Transition
Secretary of State John Kerry, who will join the delegation to Riyadh, has traveled to Saudi Arabia several times in recent months, trying to build support for the coalition against Islamic State that includes European and Middle Eastern allies.
While Salman has signaled he won’t change Abdullah’s policies, his ascension to power introduces uncertainty, said Jon Alterman, the Middle East Program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research group, said in an e-mail.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship “is central to both countries but there have been tensions,” he said. “I don’t think this transition will either resolve the tensions or result in a fundamental rupture.”
Before flying to Saudi Arabia, where women are prohibited by law from driving, Obama delivered a speech in New Delhi in which he called for equality and opportunity for women in that country as well as religious freedom.
“We know from experience that nations are more successful when their women are successful,” Obama said to an audience primarily of Indian young people.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in New Delhi at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net Amy Teibel
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