Saudi Prince Khalid to visit US, UK in bid to defuse Iran tensions
Saudi deputy defence minister set to meet senior White House and defence officials
Cairo: Saudi Arabia will soon send Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman to the US and Britain to help efforts aimed at defusing tensions between the US and Iran after the killing of a senior Iranian commander in a US airstrike, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al Awsat reported Sunday.
Prince Khalid will make an official trip to the US and Britain in the next two days at directives from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the paper said, citing unnamed well-informed sources.
“Prince Khalid will meet in the US with senior officials at the White House and the State and Defence departments,” the sources added.
“The [visit] is part of the kingdom’s bid to make all efforts to achieve calmness and restraint and head off all escalation,” they added.
On Friday, a US strike in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani, the chief of Iran’s self-styled Al Quds Force linked to the Revolutionary Guard. Iran has vowed retaliation for Soleimani’s killing.