by MEHRAN HAGHIRIAN
A prominent group of foreign policy and Middle East affairs thinkers believe in a perpetual conflict between Iran and its Arab neighbours, ignoring the regional diplomacy taking place
With US President Joe Biden planning to visit Jeddah in the coming weeks, an article in Foreign Affairs penned by Steven Cook and Martin Indyk made the case for a new US-Saudi relationship under a “strategic compact”.
The authors argue that Biden can use a reset in relations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to bring food and gas prices down in the US using Saudi Arabia‘s excess capacity to calm the current turmoil in the energy market.
This, in turn, would increase support for the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections. But, more importantly, they maintain that “at the core of any rapprochement should be the common need to counter Iran”.
This camp of prominent US foreign policy and Middle East affairs thinkers believes in a perpetual conflict between Iran
and its Arab neighbours. The arguments presented by them are solely
based on containing and countering Iran, with or without the revival of
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal.
There is virtually no mention of the ongoing bilateral talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Iran and the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), and no consideration of Doha and Muscat’s deep relations with
Tehran. They are largely pessimistic towards any regional dialogue and
dismiss talks of inclusive regional cooperation.
Subscribers to this approach in the White House are now discussing a
proposal for the establishment of a new regional security structure with
countering Iran
as the shared objective. In Jeddah, Biden will attempt to hold a
similar meeting that his predecessor held with Arab and Muslim leaders,
with officials from all GCC states, as well as Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.
The Israeli factor
In the upcoming meeting, it is expected that a new joint aerial and missile defence partnership will be announced between the participating Arab states, the United States, and Israel, dubbed the “Middle East Air Defence Alliance“. The idea, backed by a bipartisan bill in Congress, is to “create a regional network of radars, sensors and air defence systems that will be connected in order to give early warning and intercept attacks”.
Middle East Eye for more