US threatens to review ties with Saudi Arabia

Washington: The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, has threatened to review their ties with Saudi Arabia due to the decision to cut fuel production. Also, the US is attempting to isolate Saudi Arabia by denying a meeting of US president Joe Biden with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the upcoming G20 meeting. However, the other Middle East countries have stood by the Saudis, reinstating that the fuel production cut was a collective decision of OPEC Plus and not of Saudi alone.

Earlier this month, OPEC Plus announced its decision to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day to stabilise oil prices in the international market. Immediately the United States accused and blamed Saudi Arabia for this decision as it leads and controls the OPEC Plus. US President Joe Biden further threatened Saudi Arabia with serious consequences and blamed them for taking political decisions favouring Russia.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud clarified that the decision to cut oil production was to stabilise the global oil market. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman responded to the US allegations on social media by posing a question that since Iran is also a member of OPEC, does this mean that Saudi Arabia is supporting Iran by deciding to cut fuel production?

Middle East countries of the OPEC Plus are united against US accusations targeting Saudi Arabia. The UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, and Algeria have openly supported the decision of OPEC Plus. These countries have said that the decision to cut fuel production is not of Saudi alone but a collective one. Iran’s state news is trying to be loud about the stance taken by OPEC Plus against the US.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration demanded that the oil production cut should be implemented after November. There is a crucial Senate election in the US on the 8th of November. President Biden has been the target of criticism for his erratic foreign policy and other decisions taken over the past year. Therefore, it is certain that the Democratic Party would lose this election. If this happens, then the ruling Democratic Party will lose its position in the US Senate and Congress.

Against this background, the US media is discussing that Biden is trying to gain political mileage by pressuring the Saudis to revoke the oil production cut. However, Saudi Arabia has rejected the demand of the Biden administration. Further, the Biden administration is agitated by Saudi’s response that no other country can interfere in the decision of oil production. This has led to increasing demand from the senators of the Democratic Party to stop military assistance to Saudi Arabia and to withdraw the military deployment.

The US National Security Adviser Sullivan informed that no decision can be taken against the Saudis until the results of the November elections. President Biden will then confer with members of the Senate and decide. Sullivan warned that this could include a decision to withdraw from military cooperation with Saudi Arabia.