‘No vacuum for China, Russia, Iran’ to fill in Middle East, says Biden at Arab summit
- The US is using a summit of Arab nations to lay out its Middle East strategy, meeting leaders to address rising energy prices and foster stability
- Biden said Washington would remain engaged in the region and not cede influence to other world powers
President Joe Biden was using a summit of Arab nations on Saturday to lay out his strategy for the Middle East as he closed the final leg of a four-day trip meant to bolster US relationships in a region bracing for confrontation with Iran.
The president spent the morning meeting individually with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), some of whom he had never sat down with.
He said Washington would remain fully engaged in the Middle East and would not cede influence to other world powers. “We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Biden said during the summit in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.
Biden invited Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became president of the UAE two months ago, to visit the White House this year, saying he looked forward “to another period of strong and growing cooperation” between their countries under the sheikh’s leadership.
The Gulf Cooperation Council summit is an opportunity for Biden to demonstrate his commitment to the region after spending most of his presidency focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing influence in Asia.
Hours before the conference began, the White House released satellite imagery indicating Russian officials have twice recently visited Iran to see weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire for use in its war in Ukraine.
None of the countries at the summit have moved in lockstep with the US to sanction Russia. If anything, the UAE has emerged as a sort of financial haven for Russian billionaires and their expensive yachts.
A senior Biden administration official said Moscow’s efforts to acquire drones from Tehran show Russia is “effectively making a bet on Iran”.
Biden’s attendance at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit followed his Friday meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the oil-rich kingdom’s de facto ruler and heir to the throne currently held by his father, King Salman.
The president had initially shunned the prince over human rights abuses, particularly the killing of US-based writer Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence officials believe was likely approved by the crown prince.
But Biden decided he needed to repair the long-standing relationship between the two countries to address rising gas prices and foster stability in the volatile region.
Biden and Prince Mohammed greeted each other with a fist bump, a gesture swiftly criticised. The prince told Biden that Saudi Arabia had acted to prevent a repeat of mistakes like the journalist’s killing, and that the United States had also made mistakes, including in Iraq, a Saudi official said.
“The kingdom has taken all measures to prevent similar mistakes in the future,” the crown prince, who has denied responsibility for the Khashoggi killing, was quoted as telling Biden.
Biden said he did not shy away from discussing the issue. The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news network, citing an unnamed Saudi source, reported that Prince Mohammed responded to Biden’s mention of Khashoggi by saying attempts to impose a set of values can backfire.
He also said the US had committed mistakes at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where detainees were tortured, and pressed Biden on the May killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin.
Meanwhile, the UAE has detained Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen and civil rights lawyer who previously served as a lawyer for the slain journalist, said US-based rights group DAWN on Saturday. Ghafoor is a member of its board.
A senior US administration official said the US was aware, but could not say whether Biden would raise the issue in talks.
Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs, called Biden’s visit a “great success” and brushed off questions about friction between the two countries.
The Biden administration was also expected to announce US$1 billion in food security help for the Middle East and North Africa.
The president’s first Middle East trip comes 11 months after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and as Biden aims to reprioritise the US away from the Middle East’s ruinous wars and ongoing conflicts stretching from Libya to Syria.
Energy prices, elevated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were expected to be high on the agenda. But Biden aides tempered expectations that he would leave with a deal for regional producers to immediately boost supply.
“I suspect you won’t see that for another couple of weeks,” Biden said on Friday.
At the summit, Biden was set to hear concerns about regional stability and security, food security, climate change and terrorism.
Overall, there is little the nine Mideast heads of state agree on when it comes to foreign policy. For example, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE are trying to isolate and squeeze Iran over its regional reach and proxies. Oman and Qatar, on the other hand, have solid diplomatic ties with Iran and have acted as intermediaries for talks between Washington and Tehran.
As for US concerns over China’s expanding reach, China appears willing to provide Saudi Arabia with missile and nuclear technologies that the US is more hesitant to do. China is also the biggest buyer of Saudi oil.
