Deputy crown prince leaves for Washington as Saudi FM meets Tillerson

WASHINGTON: Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, second deputy premier and defense minister, on Monday departed to Washington on what is set to be the first official visit of its kind by a Gulf leader under the new US administration.

The packed agenda for the visit is to include US-Saudi relations, counter-Daesh efforts and containing Iran.

Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir kickstarted the visit with an hour-long meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. This the second meeting in less than a month for Tillerson and Al-Jubeir, with the first taking place in Germany on the margins of the G-20 summit on Feb. 16.

A US State Department official told Arab News



that “Secretary Tillerson met with Saudi Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir today to discuss a number of critical bilateral and regional issues including the ongoing conflict in Yemen and counterterrorism efforts.”

Strengthening economic and commercial ties and US support for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform program are also on the agenda.

The meeting between Al-Jubeir and Tillerson was expected to address the deputy crown prince’s visit, including his highly anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump later this week.

Al-Jubeir had voiced optimism about US-Saudi relations last January. “We look forward to working with Trump’s administration to further the bimat7a%g