US President Joe Biden recognized the Middle East as the region where much of the former American government’s plan was fallacious. By simply enforcing sanctions that provoked Tehran to step up nuclear activities, Donald Trump unnecessarily ruined the nuclear agreement. The changes brought Iran one step closer to achieving the unimaginable: the ability to create an atomic bomb.
Trump upended long-standing bipartisan conventions concerning Israel, further connecting American strategy to the objectives of the extremist far-right Jewish agenda. He also provided protection for Saudi Crown Prince after the gruesome killing of WP journalist. The old tycoon ignored fundamental moral principles and Congress’ wrath in favor of his infamously transactional mentality.
Having started the third year in office, Biden has had trouble turning things around. Indeed, US president followed many of his predecessor’s paths while making his first trip to the region.
Biden and the Nuclear Agreement
Long months of talks to resurrect the nuclear agreement have not produced much. Both parties appear to be getting more and more concerned that the JCPOA may not really be viable. In the original accord, Iran was granted reprieve from sanctions in exchange for tight constraints on its nuclear development.
Biden has effectively supervised over talks aimed at improving collaboration among what is discreetly developing as a regional alliance of Arab monarchs and Israel against Iran. In practice, no Arab leader would wish to portray this growing collaboration in such hostile ways openly.
Biden’s policies have led Iran to a threshold nuclear power much more than his predecessor did. Iran’s enriching purity and the uranium reservoir is much more than any time in the history of its nuclear program.
Biden and Saudi Arabia
Biden hasn’t exactly followed through on his campaign-trail threat to make Riyadh a “pariah”. His campaign pledge was based on the MbS role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. As an alternative, American diplomats continue laying the foundation for the kingdom’s initial moves toward normalizing relations with Tel Aviv.
The US government is also considering starting incendiary weapon supplies to Saudi Arabia, particularly in the wake of the monarchy’s claims to uphold a tenuous cease-fire in conflict-torn Yemen. In addition, American officials are addressing the Saudis not as human rights criminals but rather as crucial actors in international conflicts with Moscow and Beijing at a time of global financial and security instability.
The meeting by Biden demonstrated how the Saudi crown prince had ultimately survived the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Sources from the US intelligence community confirmed that MbS gave the go-ahead for the plan to murder Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate four years ago. However, Biden seemed to portray the situation as resolved in an opinion piece published this month in The Washington Post. He praised the penalties and travel bans his office imposed on a series of Saudi individuals. The crown prince, who is expected to rule Riyadh for many years to come, has not been affected by the ban, though.
Biden and Israel
Biden struggles on in Israel too. Few serious actions taken by the Trump administration against the Palestinians have been overturned under his presidency. The new administration failed to demonstrate any enthusiasm in pursuing a long-stalled two-state settlement or in promoting civil rights for the vast majority of Palestinians.
Biden limited his commitment for a hypothetical Palestinian statehood with the qualification “even though I know it’s not in the near-term” in statements made after landing in Israel. Those statements were a stinging tabloid of the current order, according to astute analysts.
“Under Biden, it appears that the United States just wants to rid itself of the Israeli-Palestinian burden,” said an analyst. Biden administration has just fueled the violence after years of fragile peace in the occupied lands.
In effect, Trump’s Middle East record is cast in an ever-darkening shadow. US president didn’t travel to Tel Aviv to oppose tyranny. He went there to convey that America supports it not just in Israel but also across the rest of the Middle East.
