U.S. CIA Director William Burns was in Riyadh sometime this past week where, according to the Wall Street Journal, he “expressed frustration” to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman about the Saudi-Iran rapprochement. According to “people familiar with the matter,” Burns told bin Salman that the U.S. has felt blindsided by Riyadh’s rapprochement with both Iran and Syria—countries that remain heavily sanctioned by the West. The Saudi normalization with Iran is being mediated by China, while its approach to Syria is being mediated with Russia, both of which the Biden Administration considers systemic rivals.