Kushner to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar amid tensions over Iranian scientist's murder: Report

Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar with top Middle-East envoys amid tensions in the region over the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Kushner will hold discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, where he is expected to push the Arab countries to follow UAE's lead in normalisation of ties with Israel.

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The Trump administration helped broker the historic peace deal between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain earlier this year, which was officially signed into an accord on September 15 in Washington. UAE became the third Arab country to normalise relations with Israel after Egypt and Jordan.

According to The Guardian, a senior Trump administration official has said that Kushner will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming days, where he will be joined by Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook, United States' Middle-East envoys. 

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Israel-Saudi agreement?

The Guardian reported the senior official as saying that Kushner and his team will look to negotiate agreements between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel before Donald Trump hands over the reign to President-elect Joe Biden. US officials believe that getting Saudi Arabia into reaching an agreement with Israel will encourage other Arab countries to do the same. However, experts suggest that the Riyadh is far away from signing any such deal with Tel Aviv in the coming months, if not years. 

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The scheduled trip comes amid the growing regional tension over the assassination of Fakhrizadeh, which Iranians blame on Israel and has vowed revenge against perpetrators. Days before the killing, when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Saudi Arabia, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly travelled to the Gulf Kingdom to meet with Saudi Crown Prince MBS in the City of Neom, which is about 70 kilometres away from Israel's southern-most tip. However, Saudi officials denied any such meeting took place between Netanyahu and the Crown Prince, saying the only delegates present in the room were "Saudis and Americans".

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(Image Credit: AP)