JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – President Joe Biden, speaking at a summit of Arab leaders, said Saturday that the United States will “not move away” from the Middle East as it tries to ensure stability in a volatile corner of the Middle East. world and boost global oil flow to reverse rising gas prices.
His remarks, made to the Gulf Cooperation Council on the last leg of a four-day tour of the Middle East, came amid concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and support for Iran’s militants. the region.
“We will not walk away and leave a gap to fill China, Russia or Iran,” Biden said. “We will try to build this moment with active, early American leadership.”
While U.S. forces continue to target terrorists in the region and remain deployed to bases throughout the Middle East, Biden suggested it turn the page after the country’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Today, I am proud to be able to say that the era of ground wars in the region, wars that involved a large number of American forces, is not underway,” he said.
He announced $ 1 billion in US aid to alleviate hunger in the region and pressured his counterparts, many of whom lead repressive governments, to guarantee human rights, including women’s rights, and allow their citizens to speak out. openly.
“The future will be won by countries that unleash the full potential of their populations,” he said, including allowing people to “question and criticize leaders without fear of reprisals.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, convened the summit, which gave him the opportunity to show his country’s heavy role in the region. He also hinted that the kingdom could pump more oil than it currently has, which Biden hopes to see when an existing production agreement between OPEC + member countries expires in September.
Prior to the opening of the summit, Biden met individually with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, some of whom had never sat since he took office.
He invited Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became president of the United Arab Emirates two months ago, to visit the White House this year.
The Gulf Cooperation Council summit in the port city of Jeddah on the Red Sea was an opportunity for Biden to demonstrate his commitment to the region after spending most of his presidency focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the China’s growing influence in Asia.
On Saturday, the White House released satellite images indicating that Russian officials visited Iran in June and July to see drones with weapons it wants to acquire for use in Ukraine. The revelation seemed intended to establish a connection between the European war and the concerns of the Arab leaders themselves about Iran.
So far, none of the countries represented at the summit has taken the same step with the US to sanction Russia, a key foreign policy priority for the Biden administration. In any case, the United Arab Emirates has become a kind of financial refuge for Russian billionaires and their billionaire yachts. Egypt remains open to Russian tourists.
A senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters ahead of the summit, said Moscow’s efforts to acquire drones from Tehran show that Russia is “effectively betting on Iran.”
Biden’s attendance at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit followed his Friday meeting with Prince Mohammed, the heir to the throne currently occupied by his father, King Salman.
The 79-year-old president had initially rejected the 36-year-old royal for human rights abuses, especially the assassination of American writer Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence officials believe was probably 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 punch when the president arrived at the royal palace in Jeddah, a gesture that was quickly criticized by some U.S. lawmakers as well as the promise of the murdered journalist. Biden later said he did not avoid talking about Khashoggi’s assassination when he and the Crown Prince met.
According to an American official familiar with private conversations, the issue created a “frozen” start to the discussion.
However, the atmosphere eventually relaxed, the official said, as they talked about energy security, expanding high-speed Internet access in the Middle East and other issues. Biden even tried to inject some humor into the conversation at the end of the meeting, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
The Saudi-owned news network Al Arabiya, citing an unnamed Saudi source, reported that Prince Mohammed responded to Khashoggi’s mention of Biden by saying that attempts to impose a set of values could be counterproductive. He also said the United States had made mistakes in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where detainees were tortured, and pressured Biden on the assassination of US Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a recent Israeli incursion into the city of Jenin in the West Bank.
Adel Al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s foreign minister, described the visit as a “great success” and removed questions about friction between the two countries. .
“Perhaps the skeptics are people looking for theater or drama. The reality, however, is that this relationship is very strong, “he told Arab News, a Saudi news organization.
There are large divisions in foreign policy among the nine heads of state of the Middle East who attend the Gulf Cooperation Council.
For example, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates are trying to isolate and tighten Iran because of its regional reach and its intermediaries. Oman and Qatar, on the other hand, have strong diplomatic relations with Iran and have acted as intermediaries for the Washington-Tehran talks.
Qatar recently hosted talks between US and Iranian officials as they try to reactivate Iran’s nuclear deal. Iran not only shares a huge submarine gas field with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, but was quick to help Qatar when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties and imposed an embargo on Qatar for years that ended shortly before Biden took office. .
Biden’s actions have frustrated some of the leaders. While the United States has played an important role in encouraging a ceasefire for months in Yemen, its decision to reverse a Trump-era movement that had categorized Yemen’s Houthis rebels as terrorist group has outraged the leadership of the emirates and saudi arabia.
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Batrawy reported from Dubai, UAE. Megerian and Miller reported from Washington.