Biden tells Arab leaders: ‘We will not walk away’
US president says the Middle East must not be left open to influence from China, Russia or Japan
JOE BIDEN told a summit of Arab leaders yesterday that the US “will not walk away” from the Middle East to leave “a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran”.
The US president set out his intention to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, further isolate Moscow, integrate Israel into an alliance of countries against Tehran and boost oil supplies to reverse rising gas prices caused by the war in Ukraine.
“The United States is invested in building a positive future in the region, in partnership with all of you, and the United States is not going anywhere,” he said at the end of a four day tour of the Middle East held amid fears over Iran’s support for militants in the region.
“We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Mr Biden said at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Biden administration appears to be using the growing ties between Russia and Iran – Saudi Arabia’s regional nemesis – to encourage Gulf countries to get behind the US in an alliance against Moscow and forge a closer relationship with American ally Israel. Hours before the summit, the White House released satellite imagery that indicates Russian officials have twice recently visited Iran to see weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire for use in its war in Ukraine.
A senior Biden administration official said Moscow’s efforts to acquire drones from Tehran show that Russia is “effectively making a bet on Iran”.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration has “information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs” – which are unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba the reports were baseless.
None of the six Gulf states or Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, have moved in lockstep with Washington on sanctions against Russia.
Egypt, for example, remains open to Russian tourists and the UAE is a haven for Russian billionaires.
Yesterday Mr Biden met individually with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the UAE, some of them for the first time since taking office.
The summit followed Mr Biden’s controversial Friday meeting with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the heir to the throne currently held by his father, King Salman.
The US believes the crown prince was personally responsible for orchestrating the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He has denied
‘The United States is not going anywhere’
responsibility for ordering the murder.
Mr Biden came into criticism for “fist bumping” Bin Salman despite having said three years ago that Khashoggi’s murder should result in Saudi Arabia becoming a “pariah state”.
The visit was held up as a triumph in Saudi Arabia, with footage of the greeting played on repeat on state television. In the US, images of the fist bump were used to portray Mr Biden as someone who was betraying his principles.
The president was quick to tell reporters that he had personally challenged the Crown Prince over the murder, but yesterday the war of words escalated, with the Saudi government saying Bin Salman had replied: “In the same year, similar regrettable incidents took place and other journalists were killed in other parts around the world. The United States also made a number of mistakes like the incident of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and others.”