Biden sends multiple Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia to try and fix tense relationship

The Biden administration has sent Patriot anti-missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia this year, it emerged on Monday, as part of an effort to warm troubled relations with a key Middle East ally that could help ease pressure on gas prices.

The decision has not been formally announced.

But a senior administration confirmed that significant numbers of missiles had been sent in recent weeks and told the Associated Press that the move was in line with President Joe Biden’s promise that: ‘America will have the backs of our friends in the region.’ 

Saudi Arabia had warned for months that it was running short of interceptors after a string of attacks by rockets and ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

But the request for more Patriots came at an awkward time in relations between Washington and Riyadh. The Biden administration has attempted to reshape the alliance because of concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden called the country and ‘pariah’ during the 2020 election campaign and has refused to deal directly with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

And his administration removed the Houthis from a list of designated terrorists. 

President Joe Biden (l) called Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ during the 2020 campaign and has refused to deal directly with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (r)

Firefighters battled a blaze at an oil facility in the southern border town of Jizan, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday after Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired drone and missile strikes

In this photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency, a damaged car is parked at an Aramco terminal in the southern border town of Jizan, Saudi Arabia

Last September, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. moved its own Patriot defense system out of the Prince Sultan Air Base outside Riyadh.

The Associated Press reported in September that the U.S. had moved its own

But in the meantime, the calculus in Washington has changed as it looks for alternative sources of world oil to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine while Saudi officials say the Houthi attacks have accelerated.

The impact of their strikes was on display at the weekend.

Saudi firefighters battled a fire at an oil facility in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Sunday. And the rebels also targeted power stations and oil facilities across the country’s south and west earlier in the day. 

Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, condemned the attacks.

‘The Houthis launch these terrorist attacks with enabling by Iran, which supplies them with missile and UAV components, training, and expertise,’ he said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia appears to be dragging its feet on the issue of global energy supplies.

With average national gas prices rising to more than $4 a gallon, the White House has been forced to turn to alternative sources of oil. 

Oil prices hit 14-year highs earlier this month forcing gas prices across America way above $4 a gallon, forcing Washington to rethink its stance on Saudi Arabia 

The UK has also made overtures to Saudi Arabia about increasing its output. Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Prince Mohammed at the royal palace in Riyadh last week

It has already dispatched officials to Venezuela – another major producer blacklisted for its record on human rights and democracy – and Saudi oil presents another possible source to replace oil lost through the embargo on Russia.

Last month Biden sent Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s Middle East coordinator, and the State Department’s energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, to Riyadh to discuss a range of issues – principally the war in Yemen and global energy supplies.

But nothing has changed so far and the Saudis have yet to pump more oil. 

At times the average price in the U.S. rose about $4.30. But oil prices have eased in recent days and the average price at the pump is now about $4.25.

The cost of doing business with the hardline regime was also on display last week.

Saudi Arabia put four people to death last Thursday, bringing to 100 the number of executions since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.

The latest executions reported by the official Saudi Press Agency come amid fresh condemnation of the kingdom’s human rights record after 81 people were put to death in a single day last week.

Half of those put to death were from the country’s Shia minority region which has seen anti-government demonstrations since the Arab Spring swept through the region in 2011.