Loading ...D.C. Think Tanks Seething With Anger As Saudis Welcome Syrian Foreign Minister
In what’s being widely seen as a precursor to a future Assad visit and normalization of ties, Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the first time a Syrian FM has visited the kingdom since 2011.
The more than decade-long war in Syria, which was heavily funded by the US, NATO, and Gulf states as part of regime change efforts to oust Bashar al-Assad, saw not only the Saudis but the majority of Gulf countries formally sever ties and shutter their embassies.
The Syrian top diplomat, representing a country under far-reaching Washington sanctions, was invited by the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. It’s another act of defiance on the part of the kingdom, or to put it another way a bit of a slap in Washington’s face, particularly the hawkish national security state and its pundits.