A U.S. source said Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman early Wednesday and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues in an “open, candid” session.

The senior U.S. diplomat visited Saudi Arabia late Tuesday amid widening disputes on Iran policy, regional security, oil prices, and human rights.

Washington hopes to advance talks on normalizing relations between the kingdom and Israel while fighting Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

A U.S. official claimed Blinken and MbS, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, discussed Israel, Yemen, Sudan, and human rights for an hour and forty minutes.

“There was a good degree of convergence on potential initiatives where we share the same interests, while also recognising where we have differences,” the U.S. official said.
Despite officials’ doubts, the possibility of Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization would likely dominate the discussion.

“They discussed the potential for normalization of relations with Israel and agreed to continued dialogue on the issue,” the U.S. official said without providing details.

Saudi Arabia, a Middle Eastern giant and home to Islam’s two holiest shrines, supported Gulf neighbors UAE and Bahrain’s 2020 relations with Israel under Donald Trump’s presidency.

Riyadh disagrees, saying Palestinian statehood should come first. Saudi Arabia reconciled with Iran, Israel’s archrival, in April.

A source involved with the conversations confirmed a March New York Times article that Riyadh’s prerequisites for normalizing relations with Israel include developing a civilian nuclear program. Saudi or U.S. officials have not officially verified that.

In a speech in Washington hours before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Blinken said the U.S. had “a real national security interest” in normalizing Saudi-Israeli relations but cautioned about the timeline.

“We have no illusions that this can be done quickly or easily,” Blinken remarked.

MbS and Blinken also discussed Yemen and ways to settle remaining concerns, and Blinken commended the crown prince for advocating for a truce in Sudan and evacuating U.S. citizens.

The U.S. official said Blinken highlighted human rights issues with MbS, generally and in specific situations, but did not specify.

Saudi Arabia has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in economic reform to minimize oil dependence. MbS critics, business people, priests, and rights campaigners have been arrested during the reforms.

In March, Saudi authorities released a U.S. citizen jailed for 19 years for tweeting political criticism, although he was forbidden from traveling.