Michael Alan Ratney confirmed as US ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Michael Alan Ratney, an American diplomat who currently serves in the United States Department of State, has been confirmed as the United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The US Senate confirmed the news in a voice vote on Tuesday, filling one of the vacant diplomatic posts in the region. The US did not have an ambassador in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for two years. When former US President Donald Trump took office, he picked John Abizaid, a retired United States Army general, to be the envoy in Saudi Arabia. The former US Central Command commander served as the US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2019 to 2021. The post became vacant since he left his post in January 2021. When Joe Biden took office, US-Saudi relations began to dip. The US froze arms sales to the Kingdom and lifted the terror designation of the Iran-backed Houthi militia. In 2022, US President Joe Biden confronted Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over The Washington Post jou...