The Pentagon leader has criticized Houthi attacks and expressed commitment to security ties in a call with the Saudi crown prince.
The United States has reaffirmed its “strategic defense partnership” with Riyadh against renewed attacks by Houthi Yemen rebels against Saudi Arabia during a call-off between U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin and Prince Crown of Saudi Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
MBS, which is also Saudi defense minister, reviewed bilateral relations with Austin, especially in defense cooperation, Saudi state news agency SPA said.
A Pentagon statement said the U.S. and Saudi were talking “to reaffirm the strategic defense partnership between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“The secretary condemned the recent Houthi cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and expressed his commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia in defending its borders,” he added. recitation.
Houthi rebels have stopped drone and cross-border missile attacks in recent weeks as they embark on an attack to capture the last major Saudi government stronghold in the Marib region of northern Yemen.
“We spoke of the ongoing commitment to the 70-year US-Saudi security partnership, and I look forward to working together to achieve regional security and stability,” Austin said in a statement.
A phone call came on Friday days after the White House said it would deal with the king, not the crown prince.
US-Saudi relations
U.S. President Joe Biden said this week that he intends to rebalance U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and that he will pursue diplomacy through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud rather than his powerful son, the crown prince, commonly known as MBS.
Biden is returning to “counter to counter” communications, the White House said.
Although Biden has reached out to U.S. allies around the world, he has yet to speak to Saudi leaders.
Two weeks after being sworn in as president, Biden announced an end to U.S. support for Saudi offensive work in Yemen’s long-running war, which he said created “a catastrophe of humanitarianism and pre- ingenious ”.
“Secretary Austin reaffirmed recent changes in U.S. policy toward the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, citing the importance of ending the war,” a statement said. ‘Pentagon.
A Saudi-led military coalition joined Yemen in 2015 to fight Houthi rebels, linked to Iran, who took large oaths of the poor country at the end of 2014.
Washington has also dropped the Houthi rebels from the U.S. blacklist of “terrorist” groups.
His blacklist in the dying days of the Trump administration was harshly criticized by relief groups, who said it would severely restrict aid shipments to the large areas of Yemen-controlled Houthis.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already spoken earlier this month to his Saudi group, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and raised the issue of human rights in the kingdom.
The erosion conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more, leading to what the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.