US Security Adviser Heads to Cairo After Talks in Riyadh

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk, the White House adviser on Middle Eastern affairs, are headed to Cairo today for talks with Egyptian officials. The talks will center on human rights, the upcoming elections in Libya, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and regional security, including in the Horn of Africa. The US recently cut $130 million in aid to Egypt, which the State Department said would be restored if Egypt “addresses specific human-rights related conditions.” Sullivan will meet with Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata in Washington next week. On Tuesday, Sullivan, McGurk and US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking met in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman, Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef, National Guard Minister Abdullah bin Bandar, and Minister of State and national security adviser Musaed al-Aiban, to discuss the war in Yemen and rising tensions in the Middle East, including with Iran. Riyadh and its allies have expressed reservations about the Biden administration’s attempts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and lift sanctions on Tehran. The US-Saudi talks were low-profile, with no photographs of the meetings published; it was the highest-level trip by a US official to Saudi Arabia since President Joe Biden took office.