Office of the Historian

141. Telegram From Secretary of State Kissinger to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia1

Secretary’s Aircraft, May 23, 1975, 1840Z.

Secto 1133. For the Ambassador from the Secretary. Subject: Saudi Reaction to Schlesinger Statements. Ref: Jidda 3632, 3633, 3634.

1. You should convey the following orally to King Khalid and Prince Fahd from me:

A. Undersecretary Robinson reported promptly to me the strong reactions of His Majesty and His Highness to reports of Secretary of Defense Schlesinger’s comments in a recent magazine interview about the use of force to secure oil supplies.

B. This is a subject on which there has been much public discussion, and I regret that it has again been raised in our country.

C. It is not our policy to threaten our Arab friends. Our policy is to work cooperatively to strengthen our bilateral relations and to resolve in that spirit any differences between us. We proceed from the assumption that this is also the policy of our Arab friends and that they are not contemplating actions against us.

D. I stated in Riyadh on March 19: Quote: I would like to state categorically here that our relation with Saudi Arabia is based on friendship and cooperation in which threats, military otherwise, play no part, and we base our relationship on cooperation and not confrontation. Unquote. That remains our policy.

E. I will seek an early opportunity to reaffirm this publicly.

2. Re Jidda 3633, you should tell Fahd Israelis have not yet responded to our démarche to them about overflights of Saudi territory. We will follow up vigorously with them as soon as I return to Washington. Meanwhile, His Highness can be assured that we have no information of any Israeli intention to attack Saudi Arabia. If Israel were to contemplate an unprovoked attack on Saudi Arabia, we would make clear to them that this would have the most serious consequences. Our support for the Kingdom’s territorial integrity is undiminished and as firm as ever.

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3. Finally you should call to Fahd’s attention following extract from my speech during opening public session of CENTO Conference in Ankara May 22: Quote: The challenge to diplomacy in the Middle East is to achieve agreement among the parties that will assure the territorial integrity, security, and right to national existence of all the states of the region and that will be seen to take into account the legitimate interests of all its peoples. Since the suspension of negotiations in March, we have reviewed the various approaches of assisting the parties to continue their progress. Our reassessment is still under way. But we are convinced that the present stalemate must not be allowed to continue. The United States has every intention of remaining actively involved; we shall promote practical progress toward a just and durable peace pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Unquote.

Kissinger

  1. Summary: Kissinger responded to Saudi concerns about Schlesinger’s comments and directed Akins to convey a message to King Khalid and Prince Fahd.

    Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840125–1612. Secret; Immediate; Nodis; Stadis. Repeated Immediate to the Department of State. Kissinger was en route from Ankara, Turkey, where he attended the annual meeting of CENTO May 21–23. Kissinger’s message was delivered to Fahd at Dhahran on May 25, reported in telegram Tosec 20015/122586, May 27. (Ibid., [no film number]) For telegrams 3632, 3633, and 3634 from Jidda, May 22, see Document 139 and footnote 1 thereto.

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