Saudi Arabia as an open-air prison is John Kiriakou’s summary judgement on the country where he served, offered in September 2025 when asked how the embassy in Riyadh compared with a posting to Athens.
“My own personal view is that Saudi Arabia is the biggest open air prison in the world,” he said. “But that’s just me.”[1]
The two ambassadors
Kiriakou served under two chiefs of mission there. The first was Chas Freeman — “the legendary Chas Freeman, who, God bless him, he’s still alive. He has some health problems, but he is one of the leading voices out there in support of the Palestinian people.” Freeman went on to be assistant secretary of defense and was to have chaired the National Intelligence Council, “but the Obama people killed the nomination because he’s pro Palestinian.”[2]
The second “had been the governor of Mississippi and then was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of the Navy. Nice guy, sweet guy, completely out of his element. He just did what he was told to do” — whoever was national security adviser, Sandy Berger for most of that period, told him what to do and he did it. Kiriakou’s coda is that this was not a failure of the appointment but its purpose: “That’s what the Saudis wanted.”[3]
Inside the residence and outside it
The job itself he describes as enviable. “If you are the ambassador, it’s going to be good for you, because you’re meeting with the king, you’re meeting with the crown prince, you’re meeting with the minister of foreign affairs, you have the biggest parties in the country, you have the biggest mansion in the diplomatic quarter. Life’s going to be good.”[4]
The sentence that follows is the whole of his objection: “As soon as you step out of that house, life’s not going to be so good, because Saudi Arabia is a terrible, terrible place to be. I would rather be almost anywhere else than Saudi Arabia.”[4]
Put to him that the ambassador lives behind high walls in a compound where alcohol is available and the rules do not reach, he agreed — “that’s basically it” — and did not treat the exemption as an improvement. The relief available is a drive to Dhahran to see the consulate staff, or a quick flight to Jeddah.[5][6]
The migration to Jeddah
The government itself leaves for the summer. “The entire government moves to Jeddah in May. And they’re in Jeddah for May, June, July, and August. And then the whole government moves back to Riyadh, because Riyadh’s too hot. 120, 125 degrees.”[6]
Jeddah is chosen because “it’s on the water and you get a little bit of a breeze” — an improvement Kiriakou declines to overstate: “It’s still 120 degrees, but I don’t know. It’s all relative, I suppose.”[6]
His final word on the posting is one sentence: “I hated it there.”[7][8]