Blinken: Our Ties with Saudi Arabia Are Constantly Evolving

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP)
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Blinken: Our Ties with Saudi Arabia Are Constantly Evolving

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Cairo on Sunday as part of a Middle East tour that will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In remarks to Al Arabiya television, he said US ties with Saudi Arabia are constantly evolving.

“We’ve had a relationship – an important relationship with Saudi Arabia for decades, for generations, across administrations in our own country and across leaders in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

On Iran, he stated that Tehran has rejected what was on the table about returning to the 2015 nuclear deal.

“We continue to believe that the most effective way to deal with the international community’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program is through diplomacy,” he stressed.

President Joe Biden has also made clear that “we’re determined that Iran not acquire a nuclear weapon, and every option remains on the table to ensure that that doesn’t happen. But our preferred path would be diplomacy.”

On the ongoing protests in Iran, Blinken said the Iranian youths have been standing up for their basic rights against the repression of the regime.

“We support the Iranian people, but these decisions are theirs. They’re not ours. They’re not anyone else’s,” he added of regime change.



GCC Secretary General: Peaceful and Diplomatic Solutions Vital for Global Crises

GCC logo
GCC logo
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GCC Secretary General: Peaceful and Diplomatic Solutions Vital for Global Crises

GCC logo
GCC logo

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Albudaiwi stated that the GCC states believe in the importance of peaceful and diplomatic solutions as an effective way to address regional and international issues and crises, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

This statement came during a meeting between the GCC secretary general and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha today, on the sidelines of Albudaiwi's participation in the Dubrovnik Forum 2025 in Croatia, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

During the meeting, several topics were discussed, and relations between the GCC and Ukraine were reviewed. They explored ways to develop and enhance these relations to achieve desired objectives, within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in November 2017 to promote, develop, and serve mutual interests.

The latest developments in the regional and international arenas and issues of common interest were also discussed, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

Albudaiwi clarified that the GCC's position on this crisis is based on the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, preserving the international order based on respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and the non-use of force or the threat of it.