Blinken Tells Saudi FM to Improve Human Rights

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call on Monday with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud emphasized the need for progress on human rights, according to a readout of the conversation from the US State Department.

Blinken and the Saudi FM discussed regional security, as well as the attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, that the US blames on Iran. The leaders also discussed bolstering security cooperation between Washington and Riyadh, Saudi support for a comprehensive cease-fire in Yemen and the need for immediate steps to mitigate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, according to the State Department.

The readout did not say if they discussed the murder of Washington Post columnist and Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, which the US says was approved by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler.