President Joe Biden, speaking at a summit of Arab leaders, said on Saturday the United States would not walk away from the Middle East as he tried to provide stability in a volatile corner of the globe. and stimulate the global flow of oil to reverse the rise in gas. prices.
His remarks, delivered at the Gulf Cooperation Council on the final leg of a four-day tour of the Middle East, came amid concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and support for militants in the region.
We will not leave with a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran, Biden said. “We will seek to capitalize on this moment with active, principled American leadership.
Although US forces continue to target terrorists in the region and remain deployed in bases across the Middle East, Biden suggested he was turning a page after the country’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. .
Today, I am proud to say that the era of ground wars in the region, wars that have involved large numbers of American forces, is not underway, he said.
He announced $1 billion in US aid to alleviate hunger in the region, and he urged his counterparts, many of whom lead repressive governments, to guarantee human rights, including women’s rights, and to enable their citizens to express themselves openly.
“The future will be won by countries that unlock the full potential of their people,” he said, including allowing people to question and criticize leaders without fear of reprisal.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, convened the summit, giving him the opportunity to showcase his country’s heavyweight role in the region. He also hinted that the kingdom could pump more oil than it currently does, which Biden hopes to see when an existing production agreement between OPEC+ member countries expires in September.
Before the summit opened, Biden met individually with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, including some he had never sat with since taking office.
He invited Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became president of the United Arab Emirates two months ago, to visit the White House this year.
The Gulf Cooperation Council summit in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah was an opportunity for Biden to demonstrate his commitment to the region after spending most of his presidency focusing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing influence in Asia.
On Saturday, the White House released satellite images showing Russian officials visited Iran in June and July to view drones capable of weapons they are seeking to acquire for use in Ukraine. The disclosure appeared to be aimed at linking the European war to Arab leaders’ own concerns about Iran.
So far, none of the countries represented at the summit have followed the lead of the United States in sanctioning Russia, a key foreign policy priority of the Biden administration. On the contrary, the UAE has become something of a financial haven for Russian billionaires and their multi-million dollar yachts. Egypt remains open to Russian tourists.
A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the summit said Moscow’s efforts to acquire drones from Tehran show Russia is indeed betting on Iran.
Biden’s attendance at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit followed his meeting on Friday with Prince Mohammed, the heir to the throne currently held by his father, King Salman.
The 79-year-old president initially shunned the 36-year-old royal over human rights abuses, in particular the murder of American writer Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence officials say was likely approved by the Heir prince.
But Biden decided he needed to mend the long-standing relationship between the two countries to deal with rising gas prices and foster stability in the volatile region.
Biden and Prince Mohammed greeted each other with a fist bump as the president arrived at the royal palace in Jeddah, a move that was quickly criticized by some US lawmakers as well as the slain journalist’s fiancée. Biden later said he didn’t hesitate to discuss Khashoggi’s murder when he and the crown prince met.
The topic created a chilling start to discussion, according to a US official familiar with private conversations.
However, the atmosphere eventually became more relaxed, the official said, as they discussed energy security, the expansion of high-speed internet access in the Middle East and other issues. Biden even attempted to inject some humor into the conversation at the end of the meeting, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Saudi news network Al Arabiya, citing an unnamed Saudi source, reported that Prince Mohammed responded to Biden’s mention of Khashoggi by saying attempts to impose a set of values could backfire on him. He also said the US made mistakes at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where inmates were tortured, and pressed Biden over the murder of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a recent Israeli raid on the city of Jenin in the West Bank.
Adel Al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s minister of state for foreign affairs, called the visit a great success and brushed off questions about friction between the two countries.
Maybe the skeptics are people looking for theater or drama. The reality, however, is that this relationship is very strong, he told Arab News, a Saudi news agency.
There are strong divisions on foreign policy among the nine Middle Eastern heads of state present at the Gulf Cooperation Council.
For example, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are trying to isolate and squeeze Iran over its regional reach and proxies. Oman and Qatar, on the other hand, have strong diplomatic relations with Iran and have served as intermediaries for talks between Washington and Tehran.
Qatar recently hosted talks between US and Iranian officials as they try to revive the Iran nuclear deal. Iran not only shares a huge undersea gas field with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, but it rushed to Qatar’s aid when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations and imposed a years-long embargo on Qatar that ended shortly before Biden took office. .
Biden’s actions have frustrated some of the leaders. While the United States has played an important role in encouraging a months-long ceasefire in Yemen, its decision to overturn a Trump-era decision that classified Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist group has outraged the Emirati and Saudi leaders.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
