Biden news latest: President presses Saudi prince on Khashoggi murder and laughs
Biden says US would use force as ‘last resort’ to prevent Iranian nuclear weapons
Joe Biden is on the defensive as his Middle East trip continues in Saudi Arabia. This portion of the trip is intended to reset the US-Saudi relationship
The president laughed off criticism that he shouldn’t have fist-bumped the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who is believed to have ordered the gruesome 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Biden told reporters on Friday he pressed MBS about the “outrageous” murder during a wide-ranging meeting between US and Saudi top officials.
“I made my view crystal clear … for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and with who I am,” he said.
Rep Ilhan Omar says the trip to the kingdom “sends the wrong message to everyone who cares about human rights”.
Ahead of the visit, Israel and Saudi Arabia took an important step towards normalising relations with an agreement on flights and Red Sea islands.
Before flying to Jeddah, the president reaffirmed US support for “two states for two peoples” while in the West Bank. However, he acknowledged that the “ground is not ripe” to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Biden hails Trump-era Abraham Accords during trip to Israel
President Joe Biden on Thursday offered a wholehearted endorsement to the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and several Middle East monarchies brokered during the Trump administration. Mr Biden added that he would work to expand the efforts under his predecessor to deepen ties between Israel and its neighbours.
“We will also continue building on the Abraham Accords, which I strongly support because they deepen, they deepen Israel’s integration into the broader region and establish lasting ties for business, cooperation, and tourism,” Mr Biden said during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Biden offers support for Trump-era Abraham Accords during trip to Israel
The accords are a Trump administration accomplishment which Mr Biden has not sought to repudiate
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2022 04:00
US ‘not going to wait forever’ for Iran to reenter nuclear agreement
President Joe Biden on Thursday warned that the negotiations meant to bring Iran back into the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Mr Biden was asked if he’d set a deadline for when he might walk away from the talks, which the US is hoping will re-start the agreement which former president Donald Trump walked away from in 2018.
Oliver O’Connell16 July 2022 03:00
Khashoggi fiancee criticizes Biden visit
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, described Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia as “heartbreaking,” accusing the U.S. president of backing down from his pledge of prioritizing human rights.
In an interview with The Associated Press in Istanbul a day before Biden…
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