As America and Western European attention is riveted upon Russia’s catastrophic Ukraine invasion — and with Eastern partners, the U.S. ponders menacing implications regarding China’s Taiwan takeover ambitions — our natural Middle East allies are hedging bets with relationships on both sides.
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates leaders are declining Biden pleadings for lower oil prices over his administration’s de-listings of Iran-backed terrorist groups; UAE has hosted a visit from Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as Saudis consider selling oil to China in exchange for yuan currency; and Israel draws closer to Russia in Syria as the White House eagerly panders with Tehran mullahs over a Russian-brokered “Iran nuclear deal” while Putin simultaneously threatens nuclear war over any NATO interference with his Ukraine genocide.
Israel Caught in the Middle
Biden administration resurrection of the disastrous Obama administration 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which the Trump administration had prudently ended in 2018, provides a clear pathway for a nuclear bomb within five years.
Meanwhile Israel, Tehran’s principal target, has had to maintain a security balancing act between preserving its U.S. alliance, while also collaborating with Russian air support in Syria where Iran’s war machine rains missiles down on its cities and launches cross-border land attacks on its northern region.
Such Israeli coordination in tight airspace over Syria is crucial to avoid conflicts with Russia’s air force, while at the same time, enabling their flights to dodge surface-to-air missiles fired by the Syrian regime from Russian-made launchers.
As reported in the Times of Israel, “In light of the fact that Israel is pursuing its campaign against Iran alone,” it follows that the nation “has no choice but to factor in the dramatic reality that Russia has become a military neighbor of Israel since 2015 in Syria.”
“Under current conditions,” they conclude, “the U.S. has never been less interested in confronting Iran, and Russia has never felt more emboldened, both in Europe and the Middle East.”
Saudi and UAE Biden Rebukes
Positioned at the crossroads of three continents with vitally strategic maritime choke points containing about half of global oil reserves — more than a third of oil production — the Middle East trade and military alignments can be ignored only at great peril.
It’s therefore a sign of major problems when Saudi and UAE leaders refuse to take Joe Biden’s phone call entreaties to pump more oil in order to relieve self-inflicted political pump price pain in advance of U.S. congressional mid-term elections as Arabs expand ties to Russia and China.
Lack of meaningful American responses to Iran-sponsored drone attacks on UAE airports and oil facilities in 2019 and 2022 have been especially damaging to relationships. So too have been the Biden administration’s removal of Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen from its terrorist designation as the organization continues to terrorize Saudi cities and target oil installations.
Following the last major UAE attack in January, America’s top regional commander, Gen. Frank McKenzie, didn’t get around to reach out in paying UAE a visit for over three weeks. Mohamed bin Zayed, the country’s angry de facto leader, refused to meet with him.
When Biden wanted to call to ask for help lowering oil prices weeks later, his UAE counterpart again dodged the call.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad received a warmer invitation when he visited the UAE on March 29 for the first visit to an Arab capital in 12 years. This occurred amid — and likely in response to — an uproar in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh over a reported U.S. plan to de-list the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) from the U.S. terrorist designation in its rush to win Tehran’s consent to reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
Abu Dhabi and Riyadh emphatically share Jerusalem’s dismay over this U.S. policy fiasco which will provide Iran with more resources to finance proxy wars and advance their nuclear ambitions.
China Gains Global Advantage
As noted in The Wall Street Journal, “The Biden administration appears not to understand the gap between Washington and what used to be called the Third World, the degree to which its own policies contribute to the divide, or the opportunities this gap creates for China.”
Whereas in exchange for U.S. security guarantees Saudi Arabia committed in 1974 to conduct its oil trade only in dollars, Biden's diplomatic policy blunders have reportedly undermined that agreement as it now considers Chinese oil shipment payments in yuan.
Such an arrangement would set a dangerous economic precedent for American since some 80% of world oil sales are priced in U.S. petrodollars as the global reserve currency … including Saudi Arabia’s riyal.
Both China and Russia are engaging Iran to promote their own interests and undermine those of the U.S., positioning themselves as key economic partners for the Islamic Republic.
Iran reportedly signed a $400 billion March 2021 contract for Chinese investment in their energy, transport infrastructure, and military cooperation (though the implementation of this agreement remains uncertain), along with announcing a similar agreement with Russia in October 2021.
As the current U.S. administration policy now “pivots” attention and concern away from the Middle East to Far East Asia, let’s not ignore vital interests and roles of Israeli and Arab defenses against common Iran nuclear and Chinese Taiwan menaces.
We can begin with two imperatives: end this JCPOA disaster that will only weaponize Iran mullahs who pledge death to Israel and America; and unshackle U.S. oil and gas reserves to curtail global dependence upon supplies from Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and other adversaries who are hostile to free world interests.
So yes, let’s first pivot back to assure a strong America truly worthy of leading everyone else.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 11 books, "Beyond Flagpoles and Footprints: Pioneering the Space Frontier" co-authored with Buzz Aldrin (2021), is available on Amazon along with all others. Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.