Dubai: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he doesn’t care whether US President Joe Biden In an interview with The Atlantic Monthly published on Thursday, he was misunderstood and said he should focus on America’s interests.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and Washington has come under pressure over Riyadh’s human rights record, particularly over the Yemen war and Saudi journalists In connection with the 2018 murder. Jamal Khashoggi.
Prince Mohammed, actually the Saudi ruler widely known mbsSeparate but related comments made by Saudi state news agency SPA suggested that Riyadh may choose to reduce investment in the United States.
“Just, I don’t care,” the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him. He said it was up to Biden to “think about America’s interests.”
“We don’t have the right to lecture you in America,” he said. “The same goes the other way.”
The Biden administration released a US intelligence report implicating the crown prince in Khashoggi’s murder, which MBS denied and pressed for the release of political prisoners.
The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights were violated by the brutal murder of Khashoggi and the charges against him, who was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
“I feel that the human rights law did not apply to me… Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that a person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Khashoggi’s assassination tarnished the reformist image the crown prince had been cultivating in the West, which largely condemned him. MBS seeks to focus on the social and economic reforms it has pursued to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy.
They do not involve broad political reforms.
Asked whether the Saudi regime could turn into a constitutional monarchy, MBS said no. “Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,” he said.
Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh aimed to maintain and strengthen its “long, historic” relationship with the US. He said Saudi investment in the United States is $800 billion.
The SPA quoted him as saying, “Just as we have the possibility to promote our interests, we have the possibility to undermine them.”
While the crown prince had a close relationship with Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, the US president has taken a tougher stance with the Gulf Arab powerhouse and has so far chosen to speak only with the king. Salman bin AbdulazizNot MBS.
The Biden administration has also prioritized ending the Yemen war, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for seven years. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and Washington has come under pressure over Riyadh’s human rights record, particularly over the Yemen war and Saudi journalists In connection with the 2018 murder. Jamal Khashoggi.
Prince Mohammed, actually the Saudi ruler widely known mbsSeparate but related comments made by Saudi state news agency SPA suggested that Riyadh may choose to reduce investment in the United States.
“Just, I don’t care,” the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him. He said it was up to Biden to “think about America’s interests.”
“We don’t have the right to lecture you in America,” he said. “The same goes the other way.”
The Biden administration released a US intelligence report implicating the crown prince in Khashoggi’s murder, which MBS denied and pressed for the release of political prisoners.
The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights were violated by the brutal murder of Khashoggi and the charges against him, who was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
“I feel that the human rights law did not apply to me… Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that a person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Khashoggi’s assassination tarnished the reformist image the crown prince had been cultivating in the West, which largely condemned him. MBS seeks to focus on the social and economic reforms it has pursued to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy.
They do not involve broad political reforms.
Asked whether the Saudi regime could turn into a constitutional monarchy, MBS said no. “Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,” he said.
Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh aimed to maintain and strengthen its “long, historic” relationship with the US. He said Saudi investment in the United States is $800 billion.
The SPA quoted him as saying, “Just as we have the possibility to promote our interests, we have the possibility to undermine them.”
While the crown prince had a close relationship with Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, the US president has taken a tougher stance with the Gulf Arab powerhouse and has so far chosen to speak only with the king. Salman bin AbdulazizNot MBS.
The Biden administration has also prioritized ending the Yemen war, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for seven years. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.