The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a sharp escalation of a rift that was opened by President Biden at the start of his administration, indicated last night that Washington attempted to pressure it to help influence American politics through oil pricing. 

While the statement by the Saudi foreign ministry omitted any direct reference to the midterm elections, it confirmed for the record a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to Riyadh, Mr. Biden’s emissaries have asked it to delay cuts in oil production for one month — that is, until after the November 8 elections. 

The gist of the Saudi statement was to refute accusations that last week’s production-cut decision by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries group and its allies, including Russia, was motivated by geopolitics, rather than pure economic considerations.

In consultations, according to the statement, the Saudis made clear to their American counterparts that “all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences.” 

The Biden administration did not explicitly refute that it had asked the Saudis to refrain from production cuts until after the election. The state department’s spokesman, Edward “Ned” Price, said yesterday that consultations with the Saudis lasted for months. “This engagement did not take place solely in the context of October 2022 or September 2022,” he maintained.

The American message was that “energy supply needs to meet energy demand,” Mr. Price said. He added that “this is something to us that transcends politics. This is about core national interests.” State’s spokesmen also asserted that the OPEC decision “will work to the benefit of President Putin, of Russia, in the near term.”

Such assertions portray the OPEC decision as Riyadh “taking sides in international conflicts and that it was politically motivated against the United States of America,” the Riyadh statements said. The Saudi government, it added, “would like to express its total rejection of these statements that are not based on facts.”

The Saudi statement, for one, cited yesterday’s vote at the United Nations General Assembly that demanded Russia reverse course on its “attempted illegal annexation” of regions in Ukraine. The Saudis were one of a decisive majority of 143 assembly members, including America, to vote against Mr. Putin’s Russia. 

The back and forth between Washington and Riyadh is part of a growing rift between the Saudi kingdom and America. It started with President Obama’s move to reduce America’s Mideast commitments by weakening Riyadh while attempting to create a rapprochement with its mortal enemies, the Iranian Islamic Republic and the Muslim Bortherhood. 

President Trump reversed that policy, but Mr. Biden reverted to it by elevating Saudi Arabia’s killing of a Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, beyond any other Mideast atrocity in terms of perceived importance. He called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state and vowed to “reassess” relations with the kingdom, including by cutting arm sales to the Saudis for their conduct in Yemen, where the Saudis fight a proxy war against Iran. 

America established relations with the Saudi kingdom in 1933. There were ups and downs through the decades, especially following the September 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York, in which the majority of the terrorists hailed from Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, ties remained strong, based on mutual interests between an oil-producing Islamist monarchy and a liberty-oriented American republic. 

Owing to the Obama-Biden attempt to weaken the Saudi alliance, however, those ties are shakier than ever. The de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman, seems to harbor a grudge against Mr. Biden, who has repeatedly and publicly denounced him by name. 

A presidential visit to Saudi Arabia three months ago, highlighted by a famous fist bump, might have created a respite in the hostility. Now, however, much of the Democratic Party in Washington is up in arms. Following the OPEC+ decision, Senator Menendez called for a cut in arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Senators Blumenthal and Khanna introduced a bill to that effect. 

As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, Riyadh is the largest purchaser of American weapons. Cutting it off would mostly hurt American workers in the arms industry. Another idea on the Hill — to withdraw American troops from the Arabian peninsula — would make Saudi Arabia more vulnerable to attacks by Iran and its Yemeni proxy, the Houthis. 

It might be true that Saudi interests currently coincide with those of Russia, as both countries fear that America’s drive to end reliance on fossil fuels is forcing them to maximize oil revenues now. Yet, the Saudis were allied with America throughout the Cold War, and switching sides now would take a lot of effort on their end. 

Meanwhile, Riyadh’s regional nemesis, Iran, has been a Moscow ally since the revolution that brought the mullahs to power. It has been supplying Russia with killer drones that are intensifying the bombardment of cities in America-backed Ukraine.

By further antagonizing Riyadh, Mr. Biden is pushing the Saudis into the arms of Russia and Communsit China. The fantasy that appeasing Iran would one day end the regime’s “death to America” chants is much less realistic than repairing relations with the Saudis, warts and all.