Public image isn\u2019t something one can always control, but Saudi Arabia is spending millions of dollars on Washington lobbyists and PR firms to improve the Kingdom\u2019s reputation in the West. The execution of Shiite leader Sheik Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, followed by an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Kingdom\u2019s severing of diplomatic relations with Iran, would seem to offer few upsides for the Saudi government. Riyadh\u2019s behavior comes across as a desperate Hail-Mary pass to isolate Iran at the expense of regional efforts to negotiate a de-escalation of the Syrian civil war and defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n
Jim Lobe pointed out<\/a> that Washington\u2019s neoconservatives have jumped to Riyadh\u2019s defense, apparently subscribing to the philosophy that \u201cthe enemy of my Iranian enemy is my friend.\u201d But, as The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> editorial board wrote on Monday<\/a>, \u201cThe execution of the popular Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 other prisoners on Saturday was about the worst way Saudi Arabia could have started what promises to be a grim and tumultuous year in the kingdom and across the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n The Times<\/em> may be stating the obvious, but Saudi Arabia pays millions of dollars per year to American public relations firms to paint the Kingdom in the most positive light. These firms have their work cut out for them. Indeed, that PR machine is doing all it can to spin the Saudis\u2019 execution of a political dissident and blatant effort to fan sectarian tensions as somehow the fault of anyone but Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Defending the Kingdom<\/strong><\/p>\n Fahad Nazer, a non-resident fellow at the Saudi- and UAE-funded Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, was quoted in Politico<\/em><\/a> defending the executions, saying, \u201cThe primary message appears to be aimed at Saudi Arabia\u2019s own militants, regardless of their sect.\u201d And the Times<\/em> published a quote<\/a> from Saudi commentator Salman al-Ansari, who \u201caccused Sheikh Nimr, who was in his mid-50s, of organizing a \u2018terrorist network\u2019 in Shiite areas in eastern Saudi Arabia and compared him to a Qaeda ideologue who sanctioned the killing of security forces.\u201d The Podesta Group, a public relations firm hired by the Saudi government, provided Ansari.<\/p>\n So, how much money is in it for the PR professionals who are burning the midnight oil to put a positive spin on Saudi Arabia\u2019s decision to start the year with a mass execution of 46 prisoners? Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings submitted by Saudi government contractors in Washington reveal an expensive PR operation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n