Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel and committed to enhancing defense and security cooperation between Washington and Riyadh.
China and Russia were among 15 countries elected to the UN Human Rights Council on October 13, drawing sharp criticism from rights groups and the United States over their abysmal human rights records.
The United Nations has confirmed the names of most of the candidates running for seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council in elections tentatively set for next week, and the expected return of the likes of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba will draw attention once again to the justification given by the Trump administration in 2018 for its decision to withdraw.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on the phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisalbin Farhan Sunday, discussing the Abraham peace accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel National News reports. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords on September 15, President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia to also normalize ties with Israel “when the time comes.”
Saudi Arabia on Monday said it broke up a terrorist cell that had received training from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, arresting 10 people and seizing weapons and explosives.
China is using the prospect of access to technology related to a nuclear weapons program to lure American allies into Beijing’s geopolitical orbit, U.S. officials and lawmakers fear.
Less than a month after the Second Intifada erupted in September 2000, the Arab heads of state held an extraordinary meeting in Nasr City, a district of Cairo.
Saudia Arabia has reportedly enough mineable uranium ore reserves to produce nuclear fuel, raising fears of a possible nuclear arms race with regional rival Iran.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel following the diplomatic move taken by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony earlier.
In light of Bahrain’s recent decision to join the United Arab Emirates in normalizing relations with Israel, analysts have been considering whether Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is likely to follow suit, Ynet News reports. Analysts say Bahrain was unlikely to normalize its Israel relations without the private endorsement of Saudi Arabia, because Riyadh sent troops to support Bahrain’s ruling family during the Arab Spring of 2011 and pledged to give the country $10 billion in financial aid in 2018.
The Trump administration is hoping to capitalize on agreements to be signed this week between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain by pressing for an end to a dispute that has roiled relations between the Gulf Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman praised US President Donald Trump for Washington’s diplomatic efforts in the region in a phone call Sunday, days after a top White House official visited to press the kingdom on normalization with Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on the Arab countries to abide by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and refrain from normalizing their relations with Israel.
Following the recent peace agreement between Israel and the UAE, a major UAE English-language daily newspaper carried the words “Salam, Shalom” (“Peace” in Arabic and Hebrew) on its front page Tuesday, Israel National News reports.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday night he expected Saudi Arabia to join Arab normalization with Israel, hours after the country’s foreign minister ruled out any formalized ties before an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. He then said he believed Iran would ultimately “come in too.”
Saudi Arabia maintains its policy of not making ties with Israel official until there is peace with the Palestinians, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday.
A six-nation bloc of Gulf Arab nations torn apart by internal strife endorsed an extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday he was “pained” after a special flight carrying nearly 200 coronavirus evacuees from abroad skidded offa runway in southern Kerala stare killing at least 16 passengers and injuring 123 more.
At a time when the Chinese Communist Party is eyeing another three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council, a pledge in the Democratic Party’s draft 2020 platform for the U.S. to return to a body plagued by the presence of rights-abusing regimes is drawing some criticism.
Saudi Arabia has presented a resolution to implement the stalled Riyadh agreement, the Saudi state news agency said in a statement, but there was no announcement of a deal to end a standoff between nominal allies under a Saudi-led coalition.