[Global Issue+] Rapidly Cooling US-Saudi Relations, Is 'Human Rights' the Only Obstacle?

Biden Aims to Return to Iran Nuclear Deal, Keeps Distance from Saudi Arabia
China Becomes World's Largest Oil Importer, Also Supports Saudi Nuclear Development

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The U.S. State Department's announcement to revoke the terrorist organization designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are at war with Saudi Arabia, has rapidly cooled relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Considering that during former President Donald Trump's administration, the U.S. showed close ties with the Saudi royal family and provided full support for the war against the Houthis, the bilateral relationship has dramatically reversed since President Joe Biden took office.

The Biden administration has publicly criticized Saudi Arabia for human rights violations against the Yemeni people resulting from its prolonged attacks on Yemen, as well as for the vulnerable status of women’s rights and the autocratic rule of the royal family within Saudi Arabia. However, the shift in relations with Saudi Arabia, a key ally in U.S. Middle East policy for over 70 years since World War II, is difficult to attribute solely to human rights issues. In any country's diplomacy, national interests generally take precedence over rhetoric.

The change in U.S. policy is analyzed to have begun during the previous Trump administration. Although former President Trump displayed personal closeness, the U.S. was steadily withdrawing from the Middle East. This is largely attributed to the significant reduction in dependence on Middle Eastern oil, which was once strategically valuable. The gap left by this withdrawal is rapidly being filled by China, which still requires large amounts of oil.

Biden Administration Seeks Return to Iran Nuclear Deal, Turns Away from Saudi Arabia

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

According to foreign media including CNN, on the 12th (local time), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in a statement that the terrorist organization designation of the Yemen Houthi rebels would be revoked. In the statement, Secretary Blinken said, "This decision was made in recognition of the horrific humanitarian situation in Yemen," and explained that three individuals?Houthi leaders Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Bad al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim?would also be removed from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list. The revocation of the terrorist designation is scheduled to take effect on the 16th.

Considering that Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, is still at war with the Houthis, this move indicates a rapid cooling of relations with Saudi Arabia. During the Trump administration, despite opposition from the U.S. Congress, support for Saudi attacks on the Houthis continued, and advanced weapons exports such as F-35 fighter jets were carried out in succession. However, the Biden administration has halted support for Saudi attacks on the Houthis and suspended arms exports.

Although the decision is ostensibly made out of concern for Yemen's humanitarian situation, considering Iran's backing of the Houthis, it is unlikely that this decision was made solely on human rights grounds. It is interpreted as a strategic move toward rejoining the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), which President Biden pledged during his presidential campaign. The Houthis are classified as an Islamic Shia militia group and are known to receive various heavy weapons, missiles, and bombing drones from Iran, the Shia hegemon.

Saudi Arabia Draws Closer to China, the World's Largest Oil Importer

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Another reason for the U.S. distancing itself from Saudi Arabia is the rapidly growing relationship between Saudi Arabia and China. China has recently been suspected of assisting Saudi Arabia's nuclear development. According to The New York Times (NYT), U.S. intelligence agencies discovered a newly completed building near a solar power complex in Al-Uyaynah, close to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, last August. Analysis of its shape and location suggests it is a uranium enrichment facility.

This facility bears a strong resemblance to the uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan, Iran, which China is known to have designed and assisted. This has raised suspicions that China may be behind Saudi Arabia's nuclear development as well. Saudi Arabia has reportedly been strengthening nuclear cooperation projects with China since 2015.

Coincidentally, 2015 was also the year when Saudi Arabia's oil exports to China surpassed those to the U.S. After the advancement of shale oil technology in 2014, the U.S. became the world's largest crude oil producer, leading to a sharp decline in Middle Eastern oil imports. Moreover, the Biden administration has made the so-called green new deal a core pledge, aiming to eliminate fossil fuel use altogether. In contrast, China, with its massive domestic consumption for factory equipment and thermal power generation, still demands enormous amounts of oil.

The unusual closeness between Saudi Arabia and China is also connected to the silence of Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries regarding China's persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The majority of Muslims in Xinjiang are Sunni, and Saudi Arabia is the leading Sunni country, yet it has not addressed the persecution of Sunni Uyghurs at all.

From the U.S. perspective, which regards China as the greatest adversary of the 21st century, the deepening honeymoon between Saudi Arabia and China is unwelcome. Although the alliance will not disappear immediately nor diplomatic relations be abruptly severed, the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is expected to deteriorate further in the medium to long term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.