Weeks after it signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia is reportedly in discussions with the United States (US) over a defence deal that both sides hope to finalise when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House next month.
According to the Financial Times, a senior Trump administration official told the publication that there were “discussions about signing something when the crown prince comes, but the details are in flux”.
The proposed agreement, reports said, is similar to the US-Qatar pact, which commits Washington to treat any armed attack on Qatar as a threat to the US. That deal follows Israel’s attempt last month to target Hamas leaders in Doha with an airstrike.
The State Department was quoted as saying that defence cooperation with Saudi Arabia remained a “strong bedrock of regional strategy”.
When contacted by Reuters, the State Department, the White House and the Saudi government did not comment on the report that also said the Kingdom has been seeking defence guarantees as part of Washington’s wider efforts to normalise relations between Riyadh and Israel.