Joe Biden speaking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022.Reuters
  • The US and Saudi Arabia have been at odds over oil.

  • The kingdom supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

  • One analyst said that tensions between the US and Saudis are likely to remain.

The US scrambled jets towards Iran last week after it was warned that the Islamic Republic was planning an attack on Saudi Arabia.

An attack didn't come after the show of force.

Even in hard times, the US-Saudi alliance is still alive because of the complex web of interests.

The relationship between the Biden White House and the Saudi crown prince is being tested in a series of high-stakes diplomatic encounters.

Insider reported last month that the US was snubbed by the Saudis' decision to slash oil production in order to compete with Russia.

Analysts say the abandonment of the oil deal is a power play by Crown Prince Mohammed, who believes that US power is waning and is courting rival powers like Russia and China.

Biden officials thought they had struck a secret deal to increase supplies. President Joe Biden wants to cut off Moscow's oil export revenue in order to punish Russia for invading Ukraine. One of the president's key domestic priorities is deflation.

Vladimir Putin Mohammed bin Salman
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Moscow in May 2017.Pavel Golovkin/AFP/Getty Images

Chris Murphy of Delaware called for the US to withdraw some forces from Saudi Arabia and ban arms sales to the kingdom. There would be consequences for Saudi Arabia according to Biden.

The threat from Iran seems to have focused minds.

The Iranian regime is viewed as a grave threat to both the US and Saudi interests by officials in Washington and Riyadh.

The Washington-Riyadh partnership is still alive despite all the tension between the Americans and Saudis.

The Saudis seem to have gotten through to the Biden administration's anger by launching a series of diplomatic initiatives.

At a meeting of the UN General Assembly last month, the Saudis voted in favor of a resolution declaring Russia's annexation of swaths of eastUkraine illegal in a snub to Putin that further isolated him in a global forum.

$400 million was added to the $10 million pledged in April by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Some UK and US citizens who had been captured fighting for the Ukrainian military were freed in a prisoner swap that was brokered by the Saudis.

The Saudis sent a signal that they were willing to help the Western interests in the country. He warned that Riyadh's maneuvering and refusal to sanction Russia overUkraine had fostered distrust in Washington.

The damage done to Saudi Arabia's reputation in the US capital by the conflict in Ukraine does not appear to have been mitigated by the Kingdom's diplomatic initiatives.

The US still relies on Saudi Arabia as a bulwark against Iran despite the chill in relations. Crown Prince Mohammed will exploit the situation and push for greater Saudi independence on the world stage and antagonize the US.

The US and Saudi Arabia have interests in the same direction. He said that Riyadh can demonstrate its desire for an independent foreign policy without worry about the US walking away from the Kingdom.

Business Insider has an article on it.