The Biden Administration has literally undone the strategic manoeuvres in the Middle East made by its predecessor, paving the way for China to step in as a new world leader, writes Dr Sherry Sufi.
Ties were severed in 2016 following Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court sentencing prominent Iran-aligned Saudi scholar Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr to capital punishment.The two countries went on to undermine each other’s strategic interests in the region.
These recent peace talks in Beijing aren’t the first time Iranian and Saudi officials have talked to each other over these seven years of severed relations.Most notably in Iraq, where Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi tried his best to broker an Iran-Saudi Arabia peace.The fact it was China — not the United States — that managed to broker this deal in the end has, to date, been by far the most vivid reminder of America’s diminishing influence in world affairs and, in particular, the Middle East.
In realising that direct US military intervention doesn’t have public support across the Middle East, Trump’s plan was to empower Saudi Arabia as a strong ally to be a regional leader. Aside from a few symbolic statements, this is why Trump never publicly weighed in on any speculation about the death of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a display of unprecedented American influence in the region, Trump also recognised Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as part of Israel while offering a peace plan to resolve the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza.But, that was then. Biden pressured Middle Eastern countries to stay “on team” and to condemn and isolate Russia for its military operation in Ukraine.
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