Frankly Speaking: Saudis feel let down by America, says Prince Turki Al-Faisal

01 Prince Turki al-Faisal’s on the Saudi position towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
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Updated 03 May 2022
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Frankly Speaking: Saudis feel let down by America, says Prince Turki Al-Faisal

  • Former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador blames President Biden’s policies for US energy shortage, says Saudis want only mediator role in Russia-Ukraine conflict
  • He says Saudi-Turkish relationship “should be one of the best in terms of benefit for both countries,” be it in trade or cross-border investments
  • He says sanctions should be levied on Israel because of its record of invasions of Arab countries as “aggression is aggression”

JEDDAH: Saudis feel let down at a time when they believe the US and Saudi Arabia should be together facing threats to the stability and security of the Gulf region, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief and former ambassador to both London and Washington D.C., told Arab News.

He identified the threats specifically as Iran’s influence in Yemen and its use of the Houthis as a tool “not only to destabilize Saudi Arabia, but also affect the security and stability of the international sea lanes” along the Red Sea, the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

“The fact that President Biden delisted the Houthis from the terrorist list has emboldened them and made them even more aggressive in their attacks on Saudi Arabia, as well as on the UAE,” Prince Turki told Katie Jensen, the new host of Arab News’ “Frankly Speaking.” He was alluding to the Feb. 12, 2021, revocation by the new Democratic administration of the Iran-aligned militia’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Frankly Speaking” features interviews with leading policymakers and business leaders, diving deep into the biggest news-making headlines across the Middle East and around the world. During his appearance on the video show, Prince Turki offered his views on US-Saudi relations, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the ever-shifting dynamics of Middle Eastern geopolitics at a time of rising oil prices and diplomatic tensions.

“We have always considered our relationship with the US as being strategic,” he said on the question of whether many Saudis feel they have been betrayed by one of their closest allies.

“We’ve had our ups and downs over the years and perhaps, at this time, it’s one of the downs, particularly since the president of the US, in his election campaign, said that he will make Saudi Arabia a pariah. And, of course, he went on to practice what he preached: First of all, by stopping the joint operations that America had with the Kingdom in meeting the challenge of the Houthi-led rebellion in Yemen against the Yemeni people. And, second, among other similar actions, by not meeting with (Saudi Arabia’s crown prince) and publicly declaring that he would not meet with the crown prince, and, at one stage, withdrawing anti-aircraft missile batteries from the Kingdom when we were facing an increase in attacks by the Houthis using Iranian equipment like missiles and drones.”

Pointing out that Saudi Arabia “all the time … has been calling for a peaceful solution to the Yemen conflict,” Prince Turki said: “Unfortunately the Houthis have always either not responded to that call or simply ignored it or opposed it. And, as we see now, there is a supposed ceasefire established by the UN, but the Houthis continue to infringe on that ceasefire and to take advantage of the ceasefire to reposition their forces and replenish them.”

“So, basically this is how the situation has come to this stage,” he said, referring to the current state of US-Saudi relations. “I hope that we’ll get over it like we got over so many previous downturns in the relationship.”

On the face of it, Washington seems to be quite eager to keep its communication channels with Riyadh open with phone calls and visits by officials but, according to Prince Turki, “it’s not just one thing.”

He said: “It’s the general tone of the atmosphere and America, for example, has been declaring, or American officials have been declaring, that they are in support of Saudi Arabia and will help Saudi Arabia defend itself against outside aggression and so on. We are grateful for those statements, but we need to see more in terms of the relationship between the two leaderships.”

He shrugged off the claim that Saudi Arabia has not budged on the issue of the oil problems that the US is facing, countering that Washington itself “is the reason for the state that it is in because of its energy policy.”

“President Biden made it a policy of the US government to cut all links to what is called the oil and gas industry. He curtailed oil production and gas production in the US (when) it had been, in the last few years, the biggest producer of these two energy sources,” Prince Turki said.

This curtailment of US energy production, he says, helped lift the price of oil, together with the OPEC+ agreement established after the COVID-19 difficulty, which “was an agreement to bring down production in order to stabilize the prices, for the benefit of everybody and stability of oil prices.”

Prince Turki was emphatic that Saudi Arabia does not want to be “an instrument or a reason for instability in oil prices,” indicating that actions such as the embargo of 1973 were a thing of the past.

“That is why the Kingdom and the other OPEC members and the OPEC+ members are sticking to the production quotas that they have assigned themselves. I have read that the recent decision by OPEC+ to incrementally increase oil production while the agreement is effective, is in response to the difficulties that people have in the energy sector. Another factor that adds to all this is the security issue, the high rates of insurance that have come about as a result of the war in Ukraine, plus the European and US curtailment of, and sanctions on, the Russian oil industry. All of these things have added to the increase in oil prices.”

In this connection, Prince Turki expressed strong displeasure with comments made by Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program in support of a “carrot-and-stick” approach to force Saudi Arabia to increase its share of oil production in order to reduce prices during what she called an “existential crisis.”

Reiterating that he could not speak for all Saudis, Prince Turki said: “We are not schoolchildren to be treated with a carrot and stick. We are a sovereign country, and when we are dealt with fairly and squarely, we respond likewise. It is unfortunate that such statements are made by politicians wherever they may be. I hope that the relationship of the Kingdom and the US will not hinge around or be built upon that principle.”

Likewise, Prince Turki brushed away the charge that Riyadh has chosen to side with Moscow in the Ukraine conflict, noting that “the Kingdom has publicly declared and voted to condemn the aggression against Ukraine that was passed by the UN General Assembly.”

Pointing out that Saudi Arabia offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, he said: “As a mediator, it will have to maintain a link and the ability to talk to both sides. We’ve had good relations with both countries over the years. In general, as I mentioned, the Kingdom is against the aggression in Ukraine. But also, most recently, the Kingdom has contributed to the fund that was established by the UN to provide support for the Ukrainian refugees in Europe. So that is where the Kingdom stands.”

He described the Saudi mediation bid as “an offer of a friend to friends — both Ukraine and Russia — (with) whom we have had excellent relations in the recent past.”

Moving on to what he perceives as international hypocrisy exposed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prince Turki said this has been proven “by the way refugees from Ukraine have been described in civilizational terms as being one with the West and one with Europe and so on, as if other refugees from the Middle East or from other parts of the world are not equally human as Ukrainians. That’s one discrepancy in the way that Western media particularly has depicted the issue of the refugees.

“Another one of course — part of the hypocrisy — is the UN and the way that sanctions have been placed on Russia for invading Ukraine but no sanctions for example had been placed on Israel when it invaded Arab countries a few years back. Those are the double standards and the injustices that I think have been taking place over the years.”

On the question of whether Israel should therefore be treated at par with Russia when it comes to sanctions, Prince Turki did not pull any punches. “Absolutely. I don’t see what the difference is there between the two,” he told “Frankly Speaking.”

He added: “Aggression is aggression, whether it is committed by Russia or by Israel.”

Furthermore, Prince Turki cast doubt on the theory that normalizing relations with Israel — the route taken by a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Bahrain — could be a more productive policy. “I have seen no evidence of that,” he said. “The Palestinian people are still occupied, they are still being imprisoned by the Israeli government. Attacks and assassinations of Palestinian individuals take place almost on a daily basis. The stealing of Palestinian land by Israel continues despite the assurances that Israel gave to the signatories of the peace (accord) between the UAE and Israel. So, there is no sign whatsoever that appeasing Israel is going to change their attitude.”

On issues closer to home, Prince Turki views the recent visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for one, as a positive development. “I think the leadership in Turkey has come to realize that their previous animus toward the Kingdom was not serving anybody’s well-being and purpose, especially the Turkish people,” he said, referring to the disputes and disagreements of recent years.

“Historic links bring us together with Turkey not just in terms of geography, but also in terms of human relations and family ties between the two countries. My own grandmother was of Turkish extraction, Circassian.”

Moving forward, the relationship “should be one of the best in terms of benefit for both countries,” Prince Turki said, citing such areas as trade, construction, development projects, and investments by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

“All of those, I hope, will be restored now that the relationship is hopefully back to normal,” he added.

He expressed similarly cautious optimism about the likelihood of a lasting peace deal in Yemen on the basis of the recently concluded Riyadh agreement and the Ramadan ceasefire.

“I’ve always maintained that ceasefire agreements, as attempted by the UN, particularly concerning Yemen, have lacked one crucial aspect which has not led to their success, and that is a mechanism to enforce the ceasefires,” Prince Turki said.

“We saw, after the Kuwait meeting back in 2016, there was a ceasefire, but it led nowhere. And then there was the Swedish-sponsored ceasefire attempt back in 2018, equally without much success. Saudi Arabia’s own efforts at unilateral ceasefires of recent years have led nowhere because there was no mechanism to implement the ceasefire.”

Nevertheless, Prince Turki expressed hope that with the renewed international impetus to bring the fighting in Yemen to an end, some sort of instrument can be implemented so that any party that does not abide by the ceasefire terms is publicly shamed by the international community.

“That has not happened yet. I have not yet seen the UN saying that the Houthis are not abiding by the ceasefire,” he said, adding: “But I hope that they will have the courage and the moral courage to stand up and say who is at fault here.”


Saudi communications minister meets with international leaders to advance Saudi role in AI

Updated 5 sec ago
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Saudi communications minister meets with international leaders to advance Saudi role in AI

GENEVA: Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha held a series of high-level meetings during his official visit to Switzerland, aimed at strengthening the Kingdom’s global role in promoting inclusivity in the era of artificial intelligence, innovation, and digital economy development.

The minister met with UN International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The two discussed the Kingdom’s longstanding partnership with the union spanning more than 76 years.

The minister also met with Algerian Minister of Post and Telecommunications Sid Ali Zerrouki, to expand partnership opportunities in the areas of digital governance, AI, and digital infrastructure.

 


PIF-backed Savvy Games partners with Side to nurture gaming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

Updated 35 min 33 sec ago
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PIF-backed Savvy Games partners with Side to nurture gaming ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

  • The collaboration was cemented at a signing event earlier on Thursday at Side’s London studio

RIYADH: PIF-backed Savvy Games Group has partnered with gaming service provider Side to open a physical studio in Riyadh later this year to further support Saudi Arabia’s growing gaming ecosystem. 
 
The collaboration was cemented at a signing event earlier on Thursday at Side’s London studio. 
 
Nika Nour, head of global business development at Savvy Games Group, told Arab News: “There is no better partner than people like Side who have actually opened offices in other regions of the world, not just in Western countries like Europe or North America. 
 
“They have the experiences and the tools to actually increase services, to train up local talent, and enter communities and understand cultural nuances to forge partnerships, not just for the short term, but beyond 2030, and that’s why we’re very excited about this strategic initiative.” 
 
This is a step in expanding Side’s global footprint to 20 studios across 14 countries, providing services that range from co-development, player support, quality assurance (QA), localization QA, and audio. Their work in Saudi Arabia will be a tailored approach to the country’s needs, initially by offering co-dev, localization and local audio recording services. 
 
Jacob Madsen, London studio head and VP of EMEA at Side, told Arab News: “From a company point of view, we’re always looking to expand into new markets. We’re always looking to try and have a diverse workforce, so that was also something that was really interesting to me. Over the four months, we’ve been kind of developing a relationship between Side and Savvy.” 
 
Savvy prides itself on its three pillars as a holdings entity at PIF: Investments in MMA games, efforts on e-sports, as noted regionally with the Esports World Cup, and most importantly, moving forward and progressing on Saudi’s national Vision 2030 initiative of gaming ecosystem development. 
 
The studio will also aim to provide youth training programs and strengthen local institutions, including collaboration with local partners such as Full Sail University, to nurture homegrown talent in co-development, localization and QA.
 
“What we tend to do when we open up a studio is very much work with the local population,” Madsen explained. “We try to bring in as few seniors or employees of other studios and hire the men and women of the country that we’re in. We are talking to Savvy about how we can connect to any existing university or training programs, whether we can bring down some of our experts — but we will also very much be training the people that we hire for the services that we’ll be providing.”
 
Savvy Academy, the company’s flagship initiative, focuses on incubation, acceleration and training with university relationships. They have also been collaborating with the International Game Developers Association’s Riyadh chapter, which has a talent pool of more than 200 individuals in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh.
 
“We have great relationships with universities that we plan on imploring, working with, to bring these experts not only to the classrooms, but also figure out how we get them from graduation into professional careers,” Nour said. 
 
The studio is set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2025. 


Saudi Arabia to host 8th Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh in October

Updated 10 July 2025
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Saudi Arabia to host 8th Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh in October

  • Aim of the event is to boost transformation of the Kingdom’s healthcare sector and enhance its position as a global hub for health innovation and investment

RIYADH: The eighth annual Global Health Exhibition will take place from Oct. 27 to 30 at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The aim of the event, the theme for which is “Invest in Health,” is to help accelerate the transformation of the Kingdom’s healthcare sector in line with the goals of the Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification, the Saudi Press Agency reported, while strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a global hub for health innovation and investment.

The four-day exhibition will give health sector leaders, investors and innovators from around the world the chance to explore partnership and investment opportunities, and showcase the latest advances in healthcare technology, including developments in telemedicine, digital health and preventative care.

Organizers hope this year’s event will further boost momentum in the rapidly evolving Saudi health sector, building on the success of last year’s exhibition that attracted more than 100,000 visitors from 80 countries, who signed deals worth more than SR50 billion ($13.3 billion).

The event also reflects the Kingdom’s growing influence on the global health stage, according to organizers. Recent Saudi initiatives such as the National Biotechnology Strategy and the hosting of high-profile international gatherings — including the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in November 2024, and the upcoming 2nd annual CPHI Middle East pharmaceutical expo scheduled for December — highlight the nation’s commitment to shaping the future of healthcare, they said.

The exhibition aims to serve as a key platform for fostering collaborations and driving investment in technologies and initiatives that support healthier, more sustainable communities across the region and beyond, the organizers added.


Saudi Arabia to introduce AI education at all grade levels starting this year

Saudi Arabia will integrate artificial intelligence education throughout the country’s public school system.
Updated 10 July 2025
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Saudi Arabia to introduce AI education at all grade levels starting this year

  • Students will learn to develop innovative technology solutions, beginning in elementary and high schools, and continuing through university studies

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will integrate artificial intelligence education throughout the country’s public school system beginning in the coming academic year.

The introduction of this nationwide AI curriculum will support the Kingdom’s Human Capability Development Program, part of the Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification, which is designed to create a comprehensive education system that strengthens core values and boosts the nation’s global competitiveness and AI leadership.

Students will learn how to develop innovative technology solutions, beginning in elementary school and continuing through secondary education, university studies, technical training and lifelong-learning programs, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The curriculum unveiled by the National Curriculum Center, with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, features age-appropriate AI modules in the form of interactive and hands-on teaching. They are designed to connect between grade levels to ensure progressive development of skills and comprehensive student-evaluation systems.

It follows the announcement by the SDAIA in April, during the Human Capability Initiative conference in Riyadh, of an “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course for third-year high school students in the general track, in collaboration with the Curriculum Center and the Education Ministry.

This introductory course will serve as the initial phase of the curriculum development and establish the groundwork for the incorporation of AI concepts throughout academic programs, the Saudi Press Agency added.


Makkah deputy governor washes Holy Kaaba on behalf of King Salman

Washing ceremony of the Holy Kaaba was carried out on Thursday by the deputy governor of Makkah.
Updated 10 July 2025
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Makkah deputy governor washes Holy Kaaba on behalf of King Salman

  • Deputy governor washed interior of Holy Kaaba with Zamzam water mixed with rose water, gently cleansing inner walls with cloth pieces soaked in a sacred blend

MAKKAH: The washing ceremony of the Holy Kaaba was carried out on Thursday by the deputy governor of Makkah, Prince Saud bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz, on behalf of King Salman.

Upon his arrival, the deputy governor washed the interior of the Holy Kaaba with Zamzam water mixed with rose water, gently cleansing the inner walls with cloth pieces soaked in the sacred blend prepared by the General Authority for the Two Holy Mosques. He also performed Tawaf.

During the washing ritual, the prince was accompanied by several officials, accredited Islamic diplomatic corps members to the Kingdom and the hereditary keepers of the Holy Kaaba.