Timeline: US-Saudi Arabia ties through good times and bad

The US-Saudi alliance has weathered many storms over the decades, including tensions over the Arab-Israeli conflict, the fallout of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Iran policy.
But the relationship remains vital to both: Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil exporter and the United States’ largest foreign military sales customer.
Here are some milestones in ties:
1931: The United States recognises the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, renamed Saudi Arabia the following year.
1933: Saudi Arabia grants an oil exploration concession to Standard Oil of California. Its Saudi branch, later renamed Aramco, makes the first commercial find in 1938.
1945: President Franklin D Roosevelt meets King Abdulaziz aboard the USS Quincy in the Suez Canal, setting the stage for decades of close ties.

#Diplomatic_Memory | The horical meeting between the King Abdulaziz Al Saud and former #US President Roosevelt pic.twitter.com/7mX0uhxwbB
— وزارة الخارجية 🇸🇦 (@KSAMOFA) March 18, 2018
1950: Saudi Arabia renegotiates the Aramco concession, securing more revenue.
1951: Saudi Arabia and the United States conclude a Mutual Defense Assance Agreement, opening the way for US arms sales.
1973: Saudi Arabia joins an Arab oil embargo against the United States and other countries over their support for Israel in a 1973 war with Egypt and Syria. Oil prices had nearly quadrupled the time the embargo was lifted in 1974.
1979: With US and Pakani cooperation, Saudi Arabia helps fund Afghan resance to Soviet occupation. Many Saudis, including Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, fund and join Afghan fighters.
1980: Saudi Arabia completes purchase of 100% of Aramco shares.
1990: Iraq invades Kuwait. The following year, US-led forces use Saudi Arabia as a launchpad to expel Iraqi forces. Most US troops then leave Saudi Arabia, but thousands remain.
Police stand near a wanted poster of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden (Reuters)
1996: A truck bomb kills 19 US soldiers at a US military complex in Khobar. Bin Laden declares jihad against Americans he says are occupying Saudi Arabia.
2001: Nearly 3,000 people are killed in the September 11 attacks al Qaeda hijackers. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers are Saudis. Saudi Arabia always denies any link to or knowledge of the attacks. A US government commission in 2004 finds no evidence that Saudi Arabia directly funded al Qaeda. It leaves open whether individual Saudi officials might have done so.
2003: Saudi Arabia opposes the US-led invasion of Iraq. The United States withdraws all remaining combat troops from Saudi Arabia.Three suicide bombers kill at least 35 people, including nine Americans, in Riyadh, part of a years-long militant insurgency against foreigners and Saudi government facilities.
A supporter of Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak holds his poster outside Cairo high court, in Cairo, Egypt, May 7, 2015. (Source: AP photo)
2011: The Arab world is convulsed uprisings. Saudi Arabia is concerned what it sees as President Barack Obama’s abandonment of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a US ally.
2013: Saudi royals complain publicly about US policies, including Obama’s approach to Iran and Syria.
2015: World powers strike a deal with Iran easing sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Riyadh fears this will strengthen Iran. Saudi Arabia launches a campaign against Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, giving Washington only a few hours’ notice. The United States however provides military support.
2016: Congress overrides Obama’s veto of a law removing sovereign immunity and opening the way for relatives of September 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia over the attacks.
2018: Saudi Arabia welcomes President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran agreement. In November, the United States condemns Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in anbul. The United States becomes the world’s largest oil producer.
2019: US lawmakers, citing evidence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MbS) role in the Khashoggi case and incensed over the civilian toll from Saudi air attacks in Yemen, increase efforts to block arms sales to Riyadh. Riyadh blames the killing on rogue operatives, denying MbS had any role. An attack on Saudi oil installations halves production. Trump says it looked like Iran was behind the attack but stresses he does not want to go to war.

Saudi and US recreate horic meeting between Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz https://t.co/xl0eCOhWuF pic.twitter.com/Ow0HrIaR5O
— The National (@TheNationalNews) February 18, 2020
2020: Saudi Arabia signals backing for the Abraham Accords under which its allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain forge ties with Israel. Riyadh stops short of recognising Israel itself.
2021: President Joe Biden adopts a tougher stance over Saudi Arabia’s rights record. As a presidential candidate, Biden had vowed to make Riyadh a “pariah” over the Khashoggi killing. Biden declares a halt to US support for offensive operations in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.
2022: In June, Biden says Saudi Arabia had shown “courageous leadership” backing extension of a UN-backed Yemen truce. With oil prices soaring, the White House welcomes a decision OPEC+ nations to increase supplies. Washington announces Biden’s Saudi Arabia visit. Biden says he is going for an international meeting that MbS would also attend. The White House later says he will hold bilateral talks with King Salman and his leadership team, including MbS.