US won’t ‘walk away’ from Middle East, Biden tells Arab leaders

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — US President Joe Biden told Arab leaders on Saturday that Washington would remain fully engaged in the Middle East and would not cede influence to other world powers.اضافة اعلان

“We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia, or Iran,” Biden said during a summit in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

US ties to Gulf powers in particular have been roiled by multiple issues in recent years, notably Washington’s push for a deal to curb Iran’s suspect nuclear program and its tepid response to attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019 claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The summit, the final stop of Biden’s Middle East tour, brings together the six members of the GCC as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq.

Biden had been looking to use the trip to discuss volatile oil prices and outline his vision for Washington’s role in the region.

On Friday he met Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden told the assembled Arab leaders that “the future will be won by countries that unleash the full potential of their populations ... where citizens can question and criticize leaders without fear of reprisal”.



Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) bumps fists with US President Joe Biden at Al-Salam Palace in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, on July 15, 2022. (Photo: Saudi Royal Palace/AFP)

Ukraine tensions

Biden said the US would commit $1 billion in food aid to the MENA region amid rising food insecurity induced by the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed a once unthinkable divergence between Washington and key Middle East allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the oil giants that are increasingly independent on the international stage.

The wealthy Gulf nations, which host US forces and have dependably backed Washington for decades, have notably refrained from supporting the Biden administration as it tries to choke Moscow’s lifelines, from energy to diplomacy.

Analysts say the new position reveals a turning point in Gulf relations with the US, long the region’s protector against neighbor Iran.

But Saturday brought some conciliatory gestures, with Biden inviting his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to visit the White House before the year is up.

And in his remarks at the summit, Saudi Prince Mohammed said he hoped it would “establish a new era of joint cooperation to deepen the strategic partnership between our countries and the US, to serve our common interests and enhance security and development in this vital region for the whole world.”

Push for oil

Riyadh and Washington on Friday signed 18 agreements on areas including energy, space, health and investment, including developing 5G and 6G technology, said a Saudi statement.

A separate joint statement said the two countries noted “the importance of their strategic economic and investment cooperation, especially in light of the current crisis in Ukraine and its repercussions, reiterating their commitment to the stability of global energy markets.”

Saudi Arabia agreed to link the electricity networks of the GCC to Iraq, which relies heavily on energy from Iran, “in order to provide Iraq and its people with new and diversified electricity sources,” the White House said.

Washington wants Riyadh to open the oil floodgates to bring down soaring gasoline prices, which threaten Democratic chances in November mid-term elections.

But Biden on Friday tried to tamp down expectations that his trip would yield immediate gains.

“I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the US,” he said, adding concrete results would not be seen “for another couple weeks”.

Israeli ties

White House officials have used the trip as a bid to promote integration between Israel and Arab nations.

The issue of the strategic Red Sea islands of Tiran and neighboring Sanafir was also expected to be on Saturday’s agenda.

Egypt ceded the islands in 2016 to Saudi Arabia, but the deal requires Israel’s green light — a move that could spur contacts between Israel and Riyadh.

Biden said Friday that a decades-old multinational peacekeeping force, including US troops, would leave Tiran, with the White House adding they would depart by the end of the year.

Saudi Arabia has refused to join the US-brokered Abraham Accords which in 2020 created ties between Israel and two of the kingdom’s neighbors, the UAE and Bahrain.

But it is showing signs of greater openness towards Israel, and on Friday announced it was lifting overflight restrictions on aircraft travelling to and from Israel, a move Biden hailed as “historic”.

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