The agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest failures of the Biden administration, the US is now seen to its allies in the Middle East as confused and powerless in the face of the successes of the China-Russia-Iran trilateral axis which continues to grow stronger in the Middle East.
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan led by President Biden severely damaged the interests of the United States, which left in a hurry and left the Taliban movement with free military equipment worth tens of millions of dollars, President Biden’s national security policy in the Middle East is failing and the United States is losing hegemony and influence.
The agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia symbolizes to a certain extent the revenge of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on President Biden, he wanted to embarrass the American administration and therefore chose China as a mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran due to the fact that President Biden has been giving Saudi Arabia a bad and humiliating treatment since he entered the White House about two years ago.
In July 2022, President Biden conducted a visit to the Middle East during which he also visited Saudi Arabia, the visit was supposed to symbolize the change in the administration’s position following the withdrawal from Afghanistan and its ramifications on the position of the United States in the world and the fierce struggle of the United States against the hegemony of Russia and China.
President Biden then decided on the return of the US to a position of strong influence in the Middle East and the prevention of the formation of a vacuum into which Russia and China will enter following the war in Ukraine.
President Biden realized that the only way to achieve his goals was to use the help of Saudi Arabia and he had no choice but to bow down to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman whom he accused of being responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden arrived on a direct flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and shook the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during the visit to the Middle East he promised not to leave a vacuum in the Middle East for Russia or China.
However, even then, during President Biden’s visit to the Middle East, a senior Saudi official clarified that Saudi Arabia does not put all its eggs in one basket and that it has important agreements with Russia and China.
Indeed, President Biden’s statements during his visit to the Middle East are now revealed as empty statements without cover, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recognized the weakness of President Biden and decided to ride the Chinese horse so that he would mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran and obtain for his kingdom the security from the threats of Iran that President Biden could not provide.
The agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran is now being tested, and the big question is whether Iran will fulfill its obligations in the agreement, first of all not to interfere in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia, and whether it will exert its influence on the Houthi rebels who are loyal to it to stop the war in Yemen and the attacks on Saudi Arabia using missiles and drones.
If these things do not happen in the coming months the agreement will not last and will collapse.
According to sources in the Gulf, China intends to hold a summit meeting between Iran and the Gulf countries in Beijing after the month of Ramadan to strengthen the agreement.
The Chinese were successful in mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia because they took advantage of the interests and economic partnership they have with Saudi Arabia without threatening it and humiliating the Saudi crown prince as President Biden did.
The US and Israel are now waiting to see how the new relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia will develop, the Iranians claim that they will try to sabotage the agreement because they are the main victims of it.
Officials in the Gulf claim that this is only a temporary ceasefire between the Shia school and the Sunni school and that it will not last, on the other hand, Saudi commentators support the position of the Saudi Royal House that the economic interests should be given a chance to contribute to calming the tensions between the two countries and claim that Iran wants to get out of its difficult economic situation and return to the talks on the nuclear agreement to gain time and strengthen herself, therefore it will try to comply with the agreement.
In Jordan, there are calls for King Abdullah to send an ambassador to Tehran and improve relations with Iran, but the king is loyal to his policy against Iran’s expansionist tendencies and coordinates positions with the Biden administration.
Egypt shows great caution and maintains neutrality, it understands the weakening of the Biden administration but is wary of looking for ways to get closer to Iran.
The moderate Sunni countries recognize the failure of American policy in the Middle East but they currently prefer to sit on the fence and see how things develop.
