Biden Has Abandoned the Middle East to China and Russia
by Con Coughlin • April 19, 2023 at 5:00 am
In the absence of any desire on the part of the Biden administration to support the Saudis -- for decades one of Washington's most important allies in the region -- China has moved quickly to fill the diplomatic vacuum to launch its own initiative to restore ties with Iran.
[T]he fact that the Chinese can pull off a diplomatic coup involving a country that was formerly a key ally of the US serves as a devastating indictment of the Biden administration's incompetence.
Having previously castigated Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto leader, over his alleged involvement in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the Saudis' involvement in Yemen's disastrous civil war, Biden demanded that the Saudis increase oil production to ease the global shortage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time Biden made it clear that his main policy goal in the region was to resurrect the flawed nuclear deal with Iran, a move the Saudis responded to with utter dismay.
Unsurprisingly, Biden left Riyadh empty-handed, prompting the Saudis finally to cut their losses with the White House, and look for alliances elsewhere.
This is indeed a sorry state of affairs for two countries that once prided themselves on their close ties with Washington but now, thanks to the Biden's administration's ineptitude, now find themselves seeking alliances with America's enemies.
The Biden administration may have lost interest in the Middle East, but it is not a sentiment that is shared by rival powers such as China and Russia.
While U.S. President Joe Biden has shown nothing but contempt for long-standing allies in the region, both China and Moscow have been quick to exploit Washington's wilful neglect to their own advantage.
By far the most startling change to the political landscape of the Middle East has been Beijing's role in negotiating the restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two countries that, until recently, were sworn enemies.
Relations have been strained between Tehran and Riyadh since the 1979 Islamic Revolution established the ayatollahs' deeply repressive regime, with Iran's clerical dictatorship regularly claiming that the Saudi royal family were unfit custodians of the two holy sites at Mecca and Medina.
