Tillerson urges Saudis to temper global actions

PARIS — The top U.S. diplomat urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to temper its actions toward Yemen, Qatar and other neighbors, gently turning up the pressure as the Saudi crown prince asserts power both at home and overseas.

During a brief visit to France, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson drew a distinction between Saudi Arabia’s recent domestic moves and its behavior elsewhere in the Middle East.

He declared strong American support for the kingdom’s internal overhauls, which include Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s corruption crackdown against powerful princes, businessmen and military officers. Opponents see it as a power grab. Internationally, Tillerson encouraged Saudi restraint.

“With respect to Saudi Arabia’s engagement with Qatar, how they’re handling the Yemen war that they’re engaged in, the Lebanon situation, we would encourage them to be a bit more measured and a bit more thoughtful in those actions to, I think, fully consider the consequences,” Tillerson said.

Tillerson’s comments signaled America’s increasing perception the Saudis may be overreaching on the global stage. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump directed aides to call Saudi leaders to demand an immediate end to the kingdom’s blockade on war-ravaged Yemen, where the Saudis have led a military intervention against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the country.

In a statement Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. is “gravely concerned” by the circumstances in Yemen and urged “all parties to immediately cease hostilities, re-energize political talks, and end the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

She also called on the Saudi-led coalition to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid, fuel and other goods through all Yemeni ports and called on Houthi militias to allow the distribution of food, medicine and fuel in the areas they control.

Tillerson, too, called for the blockade’s “complete end.” Saudi Arabia argues it hasn’t blockaded Yemen entirely, but merely seeks to stop Iranian weapons from being smuggled into Yemen for use against the kingdom and its allies. The U.S. has joined Saudi Arabia in alleging that Iran supplied the Houthis with missiles that have been launched at the Saudi capital from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government and has battled the Houthis since March 2015. The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.