Iran and Saudi Arabia reestablishing diplomatic relations via a Chinese-brokered agreement is disturbing on many fronts
How the deal will impact the normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia is yet to be seen, but on a tour of the Gulf in recent weeks, I picked up some early warning signs.
In conversations with multiple leaders, I heard a message of concern at America’s apparently diminishing commitment to the region. I also became aware of a lessening in Gulf leaders’ fervor about combatting Iran.
The Saudis know that diplomatic agreements won’t change the stripes on the Iranian tiger, but America’s shrinking presence in the region has enabled others — notably the Chinese — to step in as a broker, extending their influence in the region. But we should not overstate the implications of this arrangement in the longer term.
What looks like an achievement for Tehran and Beijing is a setback for the wider regional architecture that I and many others have spent years advocating. That plan would place Israel at the heart of a pro-Western bloc of states stretching from the Mediterranean to the Gulf and Asia.
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