TEHRAN— “Khashoggi was in fact murdered and dismembered, and I believe in the order of the Crown Prince, and I would make it very clear. We were not going to, in fact, sell more weapons to them. We were gonna, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in fact, a pariah that they are.”

These are the words of Joe Biden in a Democratic presidential debate in 2019, before gaining power in January 2021. His election mottos, much like his statements now, were full of empty promises. He met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS) on Friday evening, despite vowing not to meet him during his election campaign. 

A fist bump between Biden and MBS raised speculations about MBS being not so friendly towards the 79-year-old president. Analysts called it a cold fist bump out of politeness, saying that the welcoming ceremony was not as glorious as the one Riyadh held for Trump. 

However, Biden, who had promised before being elected president, that he would not meet MBS, the energy crisis proved that the U.S. leader is not afraid to back down when it comes to kissing the ring of anyone to make up for the energy crisis. That’s the reason Biden changed Saudi Arabia’s status in the U.S. foreign policy framework from “pariah” to “strategic partner”. The title is even mentioned in the joint statement of MBS and Biden. 

Strategic partnership

“The two sides reviewed the historical relations and partnership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America that was established nearly eight decades ago with the meeting between King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board the USS Quincy. They underscored the importance of continuing to strengthen their ‘strategic partnership’ to serve the interests of the governments and peoples of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States,” the joint statement said. 

According to the joint statement, the two sides also emphasized the pivotal role this historic partnership has played in promoting regional stability and prosperity. 

“They stressed that the U.S.-Saudi partnership has been a cornerstone of regional security over decades, and affirmed that the two countries share a vision of a more secure, stable, and prosperous region, interconnected with the world,” the statement read. 

However, as mentioned above, there is no mention of Khashoggi’s brutal murder in the joint statement. Reporters present in the meeting said the topic was raised. 
Writing on her Twitter account, Kethevane Gorjestani, White House correspondent for France 24, quoted Biden as saying, “With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now... I made my view crystal clear.”

When faced a question about how MBS reacted to the issue, Biden said, “He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it. I indicated that he probably was. He said he was not personally responsible for it and that he took action against folks who were responsible.”

Asked whether he regretted calling Saudi Arabia a “pariah”, Biden said, “I don't regret anything that I said. What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous.”

Yet, it wasn’t outrageous enough for the old U.S. president to meet Khashoggi’s murderer. Setting Khashoggi’s killing aside, the Saudi de facto ruler is solely responsible for killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people in his disastrous war that he launched against Yemen in March 2015. The Saudi kingdom is still violating the ceasefire brokered by the UN on April 2 and renewed for another two months on June 2. Moreover, according to the UN, Yemen’s “humanitarian catastrophe” is set to worsen.

“Whatever we're getting from this meeting - maybe, maybe!, a slight fall in gas prices - is it really worth selling out the family of Jamal Khashoggi, the people of Yemen, and our own moral authority and values?” Mehdi Hasan, a prominent political analyst for MSNBC, asked on Friday. 

Nonetheless, the Biden administration decided to hamper the basic moral values and contribute to a cover-up for all the Saudi “shows of force.” As mentioned in their joint statement, the two sides also made the claim to “resolving international disputes through peaceful and diplomatic means, and alleviating humanitarian crises through economic and financial support to the region’s countries most in need. They affirmed the importance of the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. They stressed the need for supporting governments in the region facing threats from terrorists or proxy groups backed by outside powers.” Yet, MBS has not done anything to put an end to the ongoing war in Yemen, and has continuously violated the UN-brokered ceasefire. 

To kiss the ring of the Saudis, Biden extended the validity of the Saudis’ business and tourism visas from 5 to 10 years “to facilitate closer people-to-people ties and economic cooperation.”

In the meeting, Biden strongly affirmed the United States’ continued commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s security and territorial defense, and facilitating the Kingdom’s ability to obtain necessary capabilities to defend its people and territory against external threats.

The two sides also underscored the need to deter what they called Iran’s “interference in the internal affairs of other countries, its support for terrorism through its armed proxies, and its efforts to destabilize the security and stability of the region.”

They also said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States stressed the importance of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” according to their joint statement. 

Such remarks were made despite the fact that Iran’s nuclear activities are under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it “views the security of its neighbors as its own.” 

Respect for human rights is a big joke for the United States, and some expect these men to commit to democracy and revive an international pact with Iran. A pact violated by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump unilaterally. 

Ironically, MBS has called on Iran to cooperate with the regional countries, according to Reuters. 

Biden and Trump are two sides of the same policy.