Senior White House adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner is heading a US delegation to the Middle East for meetings with top officials in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Kushner is joined by US Special Envoy to the Middle East Avi Berkowitz and Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook.
The team is reportedly hoping to patch up the rift between Riyadh, Doha and the rest of Qatar’s Gulf neighbors, according to multiple international sources.
In addition, while in Saudi Arabia Kushner will also allegedly make one more attempt to convince the country’s leadership to normalize relations with Israel even before Joe Biden enters the White House on January 20, 2021.
There have been several reports over the past several weeks indicating that normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem is not going to happen while King Salman is alive.
It is also likely Kushner will discuss last Friday’s assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, mastermind of Tehran’s nuclear bomb program.
Riyadh has expressed quiet concerns over who will be there to provide defense if and when Iran decides to seek revenge against its neighbors in the region.