CIA director says US felt "blindsided" by Saudi Arabia reconciliation with Iran

Authored by middleeastmonitor.com and submitted by PhilomathExp

The director of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is revealed to have expressed displeasure at Saudi Arabia's recent reconciliation with Iran, during an unannounced visit to the kingdom this week.

According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter, CIA director Bill Burns told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit that the US felt "blindsided" by the kingdom's rapprochement with Iran and its ally Syria.

Riyadh and Tehran last month agreed to re-establish full diplomatic ties – after around eight years of severed relations – in a deal brokered by China, which many in the international community saw as a blow to US hegemony in the Middle East and the world more broadly.

READ: China's possible roles and limits beyond the Gulf

There have also been indications that Saudi Arabia is preparing to normalise relations with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, which would also put it at odds with a key American foreign policy stance in the region.

The CIA Director and the US government's main concern, according to the report, was that Washington was frustrated at being left out of regional developments and felt side-lined as a result.

The paper also reported that a US official confirmed that Burns primarily discussed cooperation on intelligence and counterterrorism with Saudi officials.

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TheBatemanFlex on April 9th, 2023 at 22:32 UTC »

Ahh yes, blindsided again by the actions of our faithful and dependable ally Saudi Arabia!

traynwreck on April 9th, 2023 at 22:03 UTC »

How is this surprising for the US? They are cutting into Saudi profits by growing their own oil industry. Saudis were only friendly with the US because we threw money at them.

Caster-Hammer on April 9th, 2023 at 22:01 UTC »

Hey guys I'm starting to think maybe Saudia Arabia doesn't have the U.S.'s best interests in mind.