US-Saudi decades long partnership has ended: Senator Murphy
US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has called for a reassessment of the US military alliance with Saudi Arabia after the kingdom and its oil-exporting allies agreed to a production cut ahead of November’s midterm elections, which the Democrats are already expected to lose to the Republicans.
In an interview on Sunday, Murphy criticized OPEC+’s 2 million barrel-a-day oil cut and called the decade-long partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia “broken”.
The alliance of oil exporters, which includes the 13 OPEC countries and 11 non-members including Russia, announced the cut in production on Wednesday. The group has agreed to cut production by 2 million barrels per day, or 2% of global supply.
The OPEC decision was a blow to the administration of US President Joe Biden, who visited oil-rich Saudi Arabia in July to appeal to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Independent observers believe the Biden administration fears the decision to cut oil production could cause gas prices to spike in the United States.
“I have no problem with American presidents meeting our friends or our adversaries,” Murphy said on Sunday. “I think it’s clear the relationship is broken right now. But it’s been broken under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents.
OPEC’s move came as US-led Western nations continue to seek to stem oil trade from Iran and Russia under illegal sanctions while grappling with soaring prices energy in the United States.
The decision prompted some lawmakers, including Murphy, to reconsider Washington’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, which regularly buys US arms and hosts troops.
“We are selling massive amounts of weapons to the Saudis,” Murphy told CNN. “I think we have to reconsider these sales. I think we need to end the exemption we gave this OPEC+ cartel from US price-fixing responsibility. I think we need to look at our real presence in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia”.
US-Saudi decades long partnership has ended: Senator Murphy
“For years we have looked the other way as Saudi Arabia tore journalists to shreds and perpetrated mass political repression for one reason: We wanted to know that when the chips ran out, when there was a global crisis, the Saudis would chose us over Russia, “Murphy told Tapper.
