After the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the US has a chance to “curb” the nuclear deal with Tehran and end the war in Yemen, but the role of China as an intermediary worries Washington. According to RBC, Reuters writes about this.
The agency recalls that Tehran and Riyadh reached agreements on the normalization of relations through the mediation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, while the United States was not directly involved in the process, although it is Saudi Arabia’s closest ally in the region. Relations between the US and China remain highly contentious on issues ranging from trade to espionage, with the two powers increasingly competing for influence in parts of the world far from their own borders.
According to the agency, Washington is trying to downplay China’s role in the Iran-Saudi deal, insisting that it was Riyadh’s policy of “effective containment” that brought Tehran to the negotiating table. However, former US special envoy to the UN Jeffrey Feltman told Reuters that it was Beijing’s seven years of work that led to the agreement. “This will probably be interpreted as a slap in the face of the administration [президента США Джо] Biden and as evidence that China is a rising power,” he said.
Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Brian Katoulis told the agency that the resumption of diplomatic relations between the region’s largest economies suggests a “new possible path” for resuming the nuclear deal with Iran, in which the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are interested. At the same time, former US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Firestein noted that Riyadh “wouldn’t go for it without getting something.”
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said earlier that the United States is monitoring the growing Chinese influence around the world, “whether in Africa or Latin America,” Reuters recalls. “We certainly continue to see how China is trying to gain influence and gain a foothold in other parts of the world for its own selfish interests,” Kirby was quoted as saying.
Nevertheless, Beijing’s involvement in the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal is evidence of China’s growing power and influence, which at the same time indicates a reduction in the US global presence, said John Alterman, a specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The not-so-subtle signal that China is sending is that while the United States is the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf, China is building up a strong diplomatic presence,” he said.
The New York Times writes that by turning to Beijing as an intermediary, Iran is “elevating China in the region and seeking to avoid the isolation imposed by Washington.” At the same time, officials in the US presidential administration say that Iran is under real pressure and is suffering from serious economic problems due to US sanctions, the newspaper points out. “This is the latest reminder that competition is entering the global arena. He [Китай] is in no way limited to the Indo-Pacific, nor is it solely limited to economic, security or diplomatic issues,” Mara Rudman, vice president of the Center for American Progress, told the NYT.
The newspaper also notes that US influence in the region began to decline in 2015, when Russia sent its forces to help Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and gained a foothold in the region. China also continues to build its military bases, “seeking energy resources and influence outside of Asia,” the NYT notes. “The decision to intervene in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran clearly shows that there is another player to be reckoned with,” the authors of the article concluded.
Source: Rosbalt
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