The Saudi Defense Minister told Vice President JD Vance that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is interested in de-escalating tensions with Iran, contrary to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position, according to a report. The statement follows a separate report by journalist Barak Ravid that Saudi Arabia conveyed a similar message to the White House.
Wednesday evening, the Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman told Vice President JD Vance that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is interested in de-escalating tensions with Iran, contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position, according to a source familiar with the meeting. The message came as journalist Barak Ravid reported that Saudi Arabia had conveyed a similar stance to the White House, with both reports emerging at 23:12 Jerusalem time.
The initial report, at 23:12 Jerusalem, cited an unnamed source familiar with the Vance meeting. Simultaneously, Ravid's report, attributed to his own sources, indicated that the Saudi message to the White House explicitly contrasted MBS's approach with Netanyahu's. The dual messaging, both emerging at the same time, underscores a coordinated Saudi diplomatic effort to distance Riyadh from Jerusalem's public posture on Iran.
The development comes amid a broader recalibration of US-Saudi relations. As The Zioneer has reported, the Wall Street Journal described US-Saudi ties at their lowest point in years, with Washington weighing security cuts. Vice President Vance himself recently stated that Arab states back the emerging US-Iran deal due to their own direct diplomacy with Tehran, a position that aligns with the Saudi message but contradicts Prime Minister Netanyahu's opposition to any deal.
The reports remain attributed to unnamed sources and a journalist's account, without official confirmation from Saudi or US officials. The exact timing of the Vance meeting and the channel of the White House message have not been specified.
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