US official: Deal between US and Saudi Arabia is pretty much there

A senior US official said on Tuesday that a breakthrough diplomatic deal between Washington and Riyadh is “pretty much there” but a broader pact involving Israel hinges on “a credible path” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, The Financial Times reported.

The US has made significant progress in talks with the kingdom over American help on defense and a civilian nuclear program, the US official said, and the countries have a “near final set” of bilateral agreements in place.

The discussions are part of US efforts to secure a broader deal that would include Saudi Arabia and Israel normalizing their diplomatic relations, but depends on Israel’s willingness to grant concessions to Palestinian Arabs.

“We now have a near final set of arrangements, which would be the bilateral elements of this deal, and we really believe the Saudi deal is pretty much there,” the senior official said on Tuesday, according to The Financial Times.

“But there are elements of it, including a credible pathway for the Palestinians and also some other elements, that would still have to be completed,” the official said. “The crisis needs to recede to open up space for this.” READ MORE