ISLAMABAD – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeated trumped-up”Iran threat” on a visit to Saudi Arabia amid US push to sell more arms toRiyadh, which is America’s number one weapons buyer.
He met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed shared security interests in thePersian Gulf and the alleged Iran threats.
Pompeo “assured the Crown Prince that the United States stands with SaudiArabia in the face of these threats, as reflected in our greater militarypresence in Saudi Arabia,” US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagussaid in a statement.
Pompeo also visited Sultan Air Base near the Saudi capital, where some2,500 US troops have been stationed since last summer.
“The visit to Prince Sultan air base and a nearby US Patriot batteryhighlights the longstanding US-Saudi security relationship and reaffirmsAmerica’s determination to stand with Saudi Arabia in the face of Iranianmalign behavior,” the State Department said.
The base is home to a squadron of US Air Force F-15E fighter jets that flydaily missions over Iraq and Syria and Patriot missile batteries.
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Pompeo’s visit to Saudi Arabia revolved mostly around countering Iran,although he was forced by a group of US Senators to address the issue ofimprisoned US citizens inside Saudi Arabia.
Among those imprisoned are two writers and dual US-Saudi citizens, Badral-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar, son of prominent imprisoned feminist Azizaal-Yousef.
They were arrested in April 2019 amid Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists.
Like most of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations, the imprisonment of UScitizens does not affect US support for the kingdom, US media said.
