But Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan downplayed the controversy in an interview with CNN’s Nick Robertson hours after the President left Jeddah on Saturday. “I see the image as a victory for President Biden,” Bin Farhan said. “A meeting with a key leader in the region came out of it. He came out of it, I think, reinvigorating the strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States.” Bin Farhan said it was “very normal” that the leaders exchanged “thanks”, adding, “I don’t know why we’ve got the phone stuck in a fist.” Biden came to Jeddah seeking solutions to one of his top political problems at home — high gas prices — as diplomacy with Saudi Arabia in the Middle East was seen as one of the few avenues he could take to lower prices by putting pressure on millions of Americans. Bin Farhan said the crown prince was open to increasing Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity — within limits. “The most important point in the crown prince’s statement today was that we must have a balanced approach to our energy transition because the kingdom, while increasing its capacity to 13 million barrels, cannot go beyond that,” he said. But critics say Biden’s visit has been overshadowed by lingering concern over human rights issues in Saudi Arabia. Concerns about the outlook of the trip were highlighted on Saturday as it emerged that when Biden raised the issue of Khashoggi’s murder, the crown prince responded by saying the US had “made its own mistakes”. In particular, the crown prince cited the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the May killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abbu Akleh in the occupied West Bank as incidents that do not reflect well on the United States. For its part, the White House defended Biden’s use of the fist as part of an effort to reduce physical contact amid the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, noting that Biden had also punched several Israeli leaders before his arrival in Jeddah. Back at the White House on Saturday afternoon, Biden appeared annoyed when asked if he regretted the greeting. “Why don’t you guys talk about something that matters. I’m happy to answer a question that matters,” he said. The meeting between Biden and the crown prince was among the more closely watched moments of Biden’s landmark Middle East visit, with the dispute distracting from some other items on the President’s agenda — including discussions of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Before Biden’s arrival, Saudi Arabia had been pressing the US to provide security guarantees if negotiations with Iran failed. The latest round of talks between the US and Iran has ended in an impasse. In a statement after the meeting, the White House said Biden “reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to work with Saudi Arabia and other allies and partners in the Middle East to integrate and enhance security cooperation.” The biggest regional rivals — backing a tough response to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, other Gulf states are wary of being caught in the crossfire and prefer talks as a way forward. The United Arab Emirates, in particular, has said it is against a regional military alliance that specifically targets Iran. In an interview with CNN’s Nic Robertson, bin Farhan played down any differences, claiming that all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain — were united in support. of “negotiations” with Iran. . He said Saudi Arabia wanted to resolve its differences with Iran through diplomacy – but was also working with the US to build a capacity “to defend against potential Iranian aggression”. “The crown prince’s discussion with President Biden focused on how to deal with the Iranian threat. And here, we talked, first of all, about negotiations, but also about applying enough pressure to incentivize the Iranians to come to the negotiating table,” said Bin Farhan. he said in response to a question about Israel considering a last resort against Iran to stop it from developing nuclear weapons. “We are having talks with Iran, as you know, so is the UAE, so are our friends in Qatar, Kuwait, so all of us as a GCC collective are talking with the Iranians because we want to resolve our differences through dialogue, we hope the Iranians will respond in kind,” he added. However, bin Farhan told Robertson: “Obviously, we have to protect ourselves.” “We are working with the US to develop our capability and (that of) others in the region … to defend against potential Iranian aggression.” He added: “We heard President Biden’s commitment to a strong defense of the kingdom.”
