Arab Crown Prince Threatens to Damage US Economy Over Oil Production Cut: The Washington Post

Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —

Crown Prince Arab Saudi as well as a leader in factMohammed bin Salman (MbS), is said to threaten to damage the United States economy if Washington reacts negatively to Riyadh’s decision to cut oil production.

The MbS threat was recorded in classified documents spread on Discord and obtained The Washington Post. In the document, MbS claims “no more dealings with the US government.”

Along with that, MbS also promised to have “economic consequences for Washington.”

MbS made this threat personally after US President Joe Biden vowed to deliver “consequences” to the Saudis for Riyadh’s decision to cut oil production amid high global energy prices.

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Biden did express his dissatisfaction with the Saudis in October after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+), led by Riyadh and Russia, decided to reduce oil production by up to two million bpd.

The US did not agree because the decision was contrary to its requests so far. Washington asked that oil production be boosted to overcome the energy crisis and lower prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

At that time, the US was so disappointed that it accused Saudi Arabia of supporting Russia by increasing profits in the country’s oil sector and allowing Moscow to finance the war in Ukraine.

“There are going to be some consequences for what they’ve done with Russia,” Biden said at the time.

Even so, eight months later, Biden has yet to enforce these consequences. MBS is also seen having meetings with a number of high-ranking US officials, one of which is Foreign Minister Antony Blinken in Jeddah this week.

It is not clear whether MbS’s threat was conveyed directly to US officials or was discovered through electronic wiretapping. Nonetheless, this threat clearly shows the strain in the years-long relationship between the US and the Saudis.

Regarding MbS’s threat, a spokesman for the US National Security Council said that his party was not aware of this.

“In general, such documents often represent only one snapshot of a moment in time and do not present the full picture,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“The United States continues to coordinate with Saudi Arabia, a key partner in the region, to advance our common interests and shared vision for a safer, stable, and prosperous region interconnected with the world.”

The Saudi Embassy in Washington has so far not responded to a request for comment.

(bac)