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TOPSHOT – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (R) receives US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
BEIRUT — On April 29, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprising announcement: that a new defense pact between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is “potentially very close to completion.” In…