Harris' foreign policy record gives insight to goals: Getting tough on Saudi Arabia and renewing Iran deal

Saudi Arabia and its partners in the region may have a fraught relationship with the U.S. if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency, experts say.

As a 2020 presidential candidate, Harris was highly critical of the kingdom after the killing of journalist Jamaal Khashoggi and backed a 2019 Senate bill demanding a public report on it.

And in response to a 2019 questionnaire from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Harris called the Saudis "strong partners," but said the U.S. needed to "fundamentally reevaluate our relationship" and "us[e] our leverage to stand up for American values and interests."

She also expressed outright opposition to weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

President Biden approved a massive, multibillion-dollar arms deal with the Saudis in 2022, then paused offensive weapons sales to the nation until earlier this month.

"We need to end U.S. support for the catastrophic Saudi-led war in Yemen," Harris said in response to CFR.

EX-OBAMA OFFICIAL PREDICTS HARRIS WILL SEEK NEW NUCLEAR IRAN DEAL

"The last thing we should do is sell them billions in weapons," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June 2019.

While running for election, Biden promised to reevaluate U.S.-Saudi ties over the Khashoggi killing, but upon taking the presidency, reached a truce with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a way to counter the growing threat of Iran.

His administration has long been pushing for several agreements to bolster the U.S.-Saudi relationship: defense guarantees, civil nuclear cooperation and a historic bilateral agreement to normalize relations between the Kingdom and Israel.

"The Biden administration has been pretty on top of the relationship with Saudi Arabia in terms of supplying it with necessary