Originally posted to the Middle East Monitor website, 29 April 2021
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday defended Washington’s relations with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, saying the controversial figure will lead his country for a long time.
In an interview with CNN, Blinken said the Saudi crown prince is likely to be the kingdom’s leader for a long time, adding that in the future “we must work with leaders from around the world who participated in or did things that, in some cases, we may object to or deplore, but we do so to advance our interests and values.”
“The first thing we have to do, whether looking back on who was responsible or looking forward in terms of how to prevent this from happening again, is to make sure that we get to the truth of what has happened, and we haven’t gotten there yet,” he added.
“We have to work with Saudi Arabia, which remains a partner in many respects, and one of the things we are trying to do is, as you know, stop the war in Yemen,” he added.
In late February, US President Joe Biden decided not to impose sanctions on Bin Salman personally for his role in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Link to the original post: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210429-us-secretary-of-state-defends-relations-with-saudi-crown-prince/
