Israel-Saudi Relations on Agenda as Blinken Heads to Saudi Arabia

Voice of America
06 Jun 2023, 17:36 GMT+10

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels Tuesday to Saudi Arabia for talks about security and economic issues.

Ahead of the trip, Blinken said Monday the United States "has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia."

Dating back at least to the administration of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the United States has worked to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

Blinken told a meeting of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC that part of his visit to Saudi Arabia would involve working toward boosting Israeli-Saudi relations.

"We believe that we can and indeed we must play an integral role in advancing it," Blinken said. "Now, we have no illusions that this can be done quickly or easily."

Blinken's schedule includes a ministerial meeting Wednesday with the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss promoting "security, stability, de-escalation, regional integration, and economic opportunities across the Middle East," the State Department said.

On Thursday, Blinken and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan co-host a meeting of the 80-strong coalition of countries fighting the Islamic State group.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Zimbabwe Star.

More Information

76 ℉

Mostly Cloudy in Madison

International

Section

West Point sued for admission policy by US anti-affirmative action group

NEW YORK: This week, the Virginia-based Students for Fair Admissions, founded by affirmative action opponent Edward Blum, sued the U.S. ...

UK firm sold parts to jet engine maker with forged paperwork

LONDON, U.K.: Jet engine maker CFM International said this week that thousands of engine components may have been sold with ...

Amid tensions, ASEAN launches first joint military drills in Indonesia

BATAM, Indonesia: Due to mounting geopolitical tensions and protests against China's activities in the South China Sea, ASEAN member nations ...

Musk's Neuralink to implant chip in brain of paralysis patients

FREMONT, California: This week, brain-chip startup Neuralink, owned by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said an independent review board granted ...

Delta flight hit by possible lightning, lands safely in Boston

BOSTON, Massachusetts: Officials said that a Delta flight from Chicago to Boston that was possibly struck by lightning landed safely ...

Indonesian woman jailed for violating country's blasphemy law

JAKARTA, Indonesia: An Indonesian court sentenced Lina Lutfiawati, also known as Lina Mukherjee, to two years in prison this week ...

Africa

Section