Is Islamic State 'secondary priority' for Saudi Arabia?
Riyadh is preoccupied with the military campaign in Yemen; Velayati tells Lebanese officials there will be no deal on Assad; the Turkish opposition party is under attack ahead of June 7 elections.
Al-Qaeda benefits from Yemen conflict
Last week the Islamic State (IS) seized control of both Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria while taking credit for a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, which killed at least 21, forcing the Obama administration to rethink its strategy toward the terrorist group.
Despite the terrorist attack on Saudi soil, Bruce Riedel is not convinced there is a comparable effort at rethinking in Riyadh, writing that IS is a “secondary priority” for the kingdom relative to its military campaign against Houthi insurgents in Yemen.
The United Nations human rights office on May 22 noted the “massive destruction of civilian infrastructure” as a result of the civil war and Saudi airstrikes, observing that more than 1,000 civilians have died in the conflict since March.
