RIYADH — Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, has issued directives to Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman to conduct an official visit to Washington and London in the next two days, according to sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.

“In the United States, he will meet with senior officials at the White House as well as those at the State and Defense departments, in the framework of the Kingdom’s endeavor to exert all efforts to achieve calm, restraint and fending off all that leads to the escalation of conditions, and in a manner that enhances the security and stability of the region,” Asharq Al-Awsat. quoted one of its sources as saying.

This comes as the Crown Prince stressed the importance of de-escalating regional tensions in a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi. — Al Arabiya English