WASHINGTON: The appointment of Prince Khaled bin Salman as the new ambassador to Washington is seen by analysts and Saudi-watchers as a boost to US-Saudi relations, establishing a high-level and personal channel with the administration of President Donald Trump.
The move, announced on Saturday as part of a series of decrees by the Kingdom, makes Prince Khaled — King Salman’s son and an air force pilot who flew an F-15 in the campaign against Daesh — the new envoy to Washington at a time of improved relations with the US and increased diplomatic traffic between the two capitals.
Saudi sources told Arab News that the incoming ambassador has recently spent more time in Washington, and is familiar with the lay of the land following Trump’s election last November.
Fahad Nazer, a political consultant based in Washington, said the appointment of Prince Khaled to such an important diplomatic post is consistent with a pattern that King Salman established shortly after ascending the throne in 2015.
“This, like other key appointments, sends an encouraging message to the youth of Saudi Arabia that if you distinguish yourself in your chosen field and demonstrate your abilities, your hard work will be rewarded,” Nazer told Arab News.
“In today’s Saudi Arabia, being young is considered an asset, not a liability. Prince Khaled has already served with distinction in the Royal Saudi Air Force. He received part of his education in the US, including in Washington. There’s no doubt that he’ll bring energy and focus — two qualities for which he’s known — to this most important of diplomatic posts.”
Joseph Bahout, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Arab News that the appointment is notable because “this is the first time a Saudi king appoints his son as ambassador,” signaling a “desire by King Salman to have a direct, permanent and personalized link with the US government and probably the inner Trump circle.”
In that sense, Bahout said Prince Khaled represents an “intimate” channel between Riyadh and Washington.
Publicly, bringing a younger face and an air force pilot to the forefront of Saudi representation in Washington projects an “image of renewal and strong engagement aimed at gradually transforming the public image of the Kingdom in the US, something the Saudis have so far failed at,” said Bahout.
In the Trump era, “the age and familial links of the new envoy should also be a gate for him to access more directly the Trump inner circle, that of his family, sons, daughter, and more importantly the influential son-in-law (Jared Kushner).”
The decision is a “master play by the king on the domestic and diplomatic levels. It’s also a bold move, given it’s uncharacteristic and breaks with traditional image.”
Prince Khaled bin Salman as US ambassador establishes ‘personal, direct’ link to Trump
Prince Khaled bin Salman as US ambassador establishes ‘personal, direct’ link to Trump
Former Iran parliament speaker registers for presidential vote after Raisi death
He was barred from standing in the 2021 presidential race by the clerical-led Guardian Council which vets candidates
DUBAI: Former Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent conservative, was among candidates registering on Friday for an early election next month following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, state media reported.
Larijani, an adviser and ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told reporters that he would focus on fixing the economic problems facing Iranians and “resolving (US) sanctions,” while maintaining a strong defense.
Larijani was barred from standing in the 2021 presidential race by the clerical-led Guardian Council which vets candidates. But an Iranian insider told Reuters that Larijani decided to run after he was assured by top officials that he would not be disqualified by the hard-line council. No reason was given for the change.
Abdolnaser Hemmati, a former central bank governor, was among other hopefuls who registered on Friday. Hemmati, a low-key moderate, also ran in the 2021 presidential election.
Iran on Thursday started the registration of candidates for the June 28 election.
Once seen as a possible successor to Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate decision-maker, Raisi’s sudden death has triggered a race among hard-liners to influence the selection of the country’s next leader.
After a five-day registration period, the Guardian Council will vet candidates running for the presidency. Moderate politicians have accused the 12-member body of disqualifying rivals to hard-line candidates, who are expected to dominate the race.
Turnout may be hit by restricted choice on the ballot and rising discontent over an array of political, social and economic crises.
Within Iran’s complex mix of clerical rulers and elected officials, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters such as nuclear and foreign policies. But the elected president will be in charge of tackling worsening economic hardship.
Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator who two decades ago ran Khamenei’s office for four years, was the first heavyweight hard-liner to register for the election on Thursday.
Jalili had made an unsuccessful bid in 2013 for the presidency and withdrew from the 2021 race to support Raisi.
Parviz Fattah, a former Revolutionary Guards member who heads an investment fund linked to the leader, could also register as a candidate.
Interim President Mohammad Mokhber has also been mentioned in Iranian media as a possible candidate.
Several low-key moderate politicians are also likely to enter the race.
EU sanctions Iran’s defense minister, IRGC over drones and missiles
- Key armed forces command center and electronics company also sanctioned
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s defense minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards for sending missiles and drones being used against Israel and Ukraine and in the Red Sea.
The high-profile measures also targeted the leader of the Guard’s Qods force for his role in transferring missiles used by Iran’s Hezbollah proxy militia against Israel, and by Houthis firing from Yemen.
A key armed forces command center and an electronics company were also sanctioned.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers say Israel strike on ambulance kills medic
BEIRUT: Rescuers affiliated with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said a medic was killed and another wounded on Friday in an Israeli strike on one of their ambulances in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
“An Israeli drone strike targeted an ambulance... One rescuer was martyred and another wounded” in the border town of Naqura, the operations room of the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee told AFP.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also said “an enemy drone targeted a Health Committee ambulance in the town of Naqura,” reporting casualties.
Several militant groups in Lebanon operate health centers and emergency response operations.
On Monday, the NNA had said “an enemy drone” targeted “a motorcycle near the Salah Ghandour hospital in the town of Bint Jbeil” in the country’s south.
The director of the facility, which is also run by the Islamic Health Committee, said two civilians were killed in the strike.
In a statement, Lebanon’s health ministry condemned the “brutal Israeli strike” on the hospital, calling it a “war crime.”
At least 446 people have been killed in Lebanon in more than seven months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also including 87 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
Several Islamic Health Committee rescuers are among the dead.
Israel says 14 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed on its side of the border.
In March, the United Nations said it was “deeply disturbed” by attacks on health care facilities in south Lebanon, after several strikes blamed on Israel killed 10 emergency rescue workers.
Gaza aid not reaching the population: UN
- “The aid that is getting in is not getting to the people, and that’s a major problem,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for OCHA said
- “We continue to insist that Israeli authorities’ obligation under the law to facilitate delivery of aid does not stop at the border“
GENEVA: The humanitarian aid allowed into the Gaza Strip is not getting to civilians in need, the United Nations said Friday, urging Israel to fulfil its legal obligations.
“The aid that is getting in is not getting to the people, and that’s a major problem,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told a media briefing in Geneva.
He highlighted the role of the Israeli authorities at their Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory since the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed by the Israeli military on May 7.
“We continue to insist that Israeli authorities’ obligation under the law to facilitate delivery of aid does not stop at the border,” said Laerke.
“It does not stop when you drop off just a few meters across the border and then drive away, and then leave it to humanitarians to drive through active combat zones — which they cannot do — to pick it up,” he said.
“We need that safe and unimpeded access to get to the drop-off point so we can pick it up and get it to people.
“We want all parties to live up to their obligations under the law.”
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Lebanon hospital treats Adam, first wounded Gazan to arrive in Beirut
- Adam is the first Palestinian child wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza to land in Lebanon
- Getting him to Lebanon was no easy task
BEIRUT: Five-year-old Adam Afana dreamt of being a police officer “to keep people safe,” his uncle said, before losing his father, his siblings and cousins, and nearly all of his left arm in an Israeli strike seven months ago on Gaza.
Now, Adam is the first Palestinian child wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza to land in Lebanon, where he has been receiving care since Monday at the American University of Beirut’s Medical Center with help from the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund.
In a sunlit room in the hospital, Adam plays with superhero action figures and watches videos on an iPad. He laughs, pokes fun at his uncle and the nurses, but only has stilted answers when asked about his journey to safety in Beirut.
“He remembers how he was wounded, his sister and his father — how they were all together. And he starts crying — it’s difficult for him psychologically,” said his uncle Eid Afana, 29, his caregiver in Beirut.
Getting him to Lebanon was no easy task: Adam spent more than six weeks in Gaza after he was wounded, sheltering from bombing and undergoing one emergency surgery on his arm without anaesthesia.
In early December, his uncle managed to enter Gaza City for just two days from Egypt to bring Adam and his mother out via the Rafah crossing. “It was my city and I couldn’t even recognize it. The European hospital was full of people being treated on the floor... The floor was a lake of blood, just body parts. It was a disaster,” said Afana.
They were lucky: Israel’s attack this month on Rafah has cut off the main crossing into Egypt, constricting aid and stopping what had been a trickle of people leaving for medical help.
The family spent nearly six months in Egypt, but Adam’s arm needed specialized care. Thus began the campaign to get him to Lebanon, a country with a precarious sectarian balance and complex history with Palestinian refugees, with severe restrictions on which can enter.
AUB President Fadlo Khoury told reporters earlier this week the university had “extensive discussions” with Lebanese authorities to allow Adam entry — and that they hoped he would be the first of more Palestinian children to benefit from the hospital’s expertise in treating war trauma.
Dania Dandashli from the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund told Reuters the organization hoped to treat a total of 50 war-wounded Palestinian children in Lebanon over the next year.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, including thousands of children, and wounded more than 81,000, health authorities in Gaza say.
The war was triggered by an attack by Hamas militants on Israeli that killed 1200, with more than 250 hostages taken, by Israeli tallies.
