When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House to meet with US President Donald Trump on 18 November, there will be no shortage of issues for the two leaders to discuss. Follow-up on the robust bilateral cooperation frameworks in economics and technology, including artificial intelligence—outlined during Trump’s visit to the country in May—is sure to be on the agenda, as are still-unresolved thorny regional security issues, such as Iran, Israel-Palestine, and the continued threats presented by the Houthis in Yemen.
A top priority for Saudi Arabia will be some sort of security guarantee or defence pact from the United States— something Riyadh has been seeking for several years. In March 2023, following Saudi Arabia and Iran's renewal of diplomatic ties in a deal announced by China in Beijing, top Saudi officials ramped up their long-standing efforts to secure a defence pact with the Biden administration. It showed just how sceptical Saudi Arabia still was about Tehran’s intentions, particularly given the threats presented by Iran’s network of partners like the Houthis, Hezbollah, and various militias in Syria and Iraq in the so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ at the time.
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