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Analysts: Ambitious Biden Team Ready for Setbacks in Gulf

Jamie Dettmer

   For Saudi Arabia, last week's announcement that the United States will
   cease support for the Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen against
   Iranian-tied Houthi rebels didn't come as a surprise.

   Saudi leaders were prepared for it.

   During the campaign for the White House, President Joe Biden's team had
   criticized the Trump administration for handing Saudi Arabia "a blank
   check" in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, where more
   than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed in six years of
   conflict.

   Riyadh was careful in its response to the Biden administration's
   announcement, welcoming instead Washington's emphasis on working with
   allies generally in the region. And the Saudis also didn't protest when
   the Biden administration revoked the designation of the Houthis as
   terrorists, a move urged by relief organizations to help with aid
   distribution to civilians.

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