https://arab.news/5uvxp
When Saudi Arabia’s founding King Abdulaziz laid the foundation for Saudi-American relations in his famous meeting with US President Franklin Roosevelt, he was keen to establish relations between two independent and friendly nations committed to developing mutually beneficial and equitable ties.
Despite the limited resources available to the nascent Saudi state at that time — represented by its wealth, geographical location and the promising economic opportunities looming on the horizon in terms of oil — the founder, with his diplomatic acumen and foresight regarding the importance of the US in the emerging world order, granted concessions for oil exploration. This marked the beginning of a continuous and beneficial relationship between the two countries.
King Saud, King Faisal, King Khaled, King Fahd and King Abdullah were committed to developing and maintaining these relations, even amid some temporary challenges, such as the oil embargo of 1973 and the events of Sept. 11, 2001. However, Saudi Arabia, based on the principles of equality and the exchange of interests and benefits, has maintained these relations.
I still recall, in this regard, the American position (due to my previous work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) regarding our accession to the World Trade Organization. The US was the only country with which we were unable to finalize negotiations because of its insistence on not approving our membership as a developing nation, its refusal to allow us to impose a permanent ban on a number of products that contravene Islamic law, and its proposal to impose extremely high tariffs exceeding 1,000 percent.
