Saudi ambassador shrugs off criticism from Biden and Sanders: 'Once a president gets to the White House, opinions change'

Both Democratic presidential contenders suggested America reshape alliance with ‘murderous thugs’ of Riyadh

The Saudi ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, with the American secretary of state Mike Pompeo (AP)

Both Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden would quickly abandon their hostility to Saudi Arabia if they became president, the country’s ambassador to the United States has predicted.

The two Democratic contenders have been critical of America’s close alliance with the oil-rich nation during the campaign.

But Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud shrugged off their remarks and said her government tended to find whoever was in the White House was happy to work with them.

“I've always found that, many times, once a president gets to the White House, when they see a 360 [degree] effect, opinions can change," the ambassador told the AP news agency.

“And so I will never comment on an election — it's not our place — but I look forward to working with whoever's in the White House.”

During a debate in November, Mr Biden said he would stop selling arms to the Saudis, accusing the Gulf kingdom of “murdering children” in its long and bloody intervention in Yemen’s civil war.

“There is very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia,” the former vice-president said, marking a clear divide with the policy of Barack Obama’s administration, which worked closely with Saudi Arabia.

“We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.”

Last month, Mr Biden’s main rival for the Democratic nomination, Mr Sanders, described the regime in Riyadh as “murderous thugs”.

"For years, we have loved Saudi Arabia - our wonderful ally. The only problem is, the people who run that country are murderous thugs," he said during a broadcast on CNN.

Instead of cosying up to the “billionaire dictator” of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the US should instead be trying to get the Saudis and Iranians around a table to bring an end to their endless proxy wars across the Middle East, he argued.

During an earlier debate, the progressive senator from Vermont also accused Saudi Arabia of treating women as “third-class citizens”.

But Princess Reema insisted change was afoot back home, ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday.

“If I want to be a thriving nation, if I want to be a thriving state, if I want to be a global player, certain things must happen,” she said.

“And the focus on women's rights in my country is not because somebody on the outside told us, ‘You must so this.’ It's because 50 per cent of our community, if you'd like a thriving economy, must participate.”

A royal decree last year abolished rules which forbade women from travelling abroad or owning a passport without a guardian’s permission. Women have also been allowed to drive cars for the first time and take part in mixed-gender gathering as well.

However, human rights experts say there are still plenty of mechanisms remaining in Saudi law for abusive fathers and husbands to exert control over their wives and daughters.