Saturday 15 March 2014

Prince Bandar bin Sultan ...warning

Saudi fears Obama falling for Iranian charm

Riyadh, October 24, 2013

By Angus McDowall and William Maclean

Saudi Arabia's warning that it will downgrade its relationship with the US is based on a fear that President Barack Obama lacks both the mettle and the guile to confront mutual adversaries, and is instead handing them a strategic advantage.


The kingdom's intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, has told European diplomats that Riyadh is contemplating a "major shift" away from the United States over Washington's policies on a host of issues including Syria.


While Saudi Arabia's frustration with the US was real, and was leading it to explore alternatives to its 70-year dependence on their strategic alliance, nobody seriously thinks Saudi cooperation with Washington will cease, the sources said.

Saudi anger boiled over last week when it renounced a seat on the UN Security Council, in protest at what it called international failures to resolve Syria's civil war and grant Palestinians a state.

Behind its concerns was a fear that its closest major ally had failed to respond robustly on Syria and would give away too much in any negotiations it undertakes with Iran, Riyadh's main Middle East foe.

"The Saudis are putting the pressure on so that the Americans stop being so weak," said a Saudi analyst close to official thinking. "The message is: You need us. And we are not going to play ball with you until you wake up," he added.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are at odds on most big struggles in the region, including in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen. In Syria, Tehran backs President Bashar Al-Assad, while Riyadh supports rebels seeking to oust him.




For Riyadh, the prospect of a US deal with Tehran raises several unappetising scenarios, including continued Iranian domination over big Arab neighbours such as Syria and Iraq, and an Israel-Iran war with Gulf states caught in the middle.

"It's the Americans' ability to manage the situation that's the problem. It's a bit like back to Jimmy Carter's time. Bill Clinton wasn't like that. He was more able, more active, more of a leader," said the analyst close to official Saudi thinking.

During Carter's presidency, Washington was powerless to stop the collapse of the pro-Western shah in the face of an Islamic revolution that brought to power the Shi'ite clerics Riyadh so distrusts.

The diplomatic source said the Saudis feared the Obama administration was too ready to trust Rouhani on his pledges to improve ties and be more transparent about Iran's nuclear work.

"They fear the Americans will be fooled," he said, and that Washington would allow Iran to become a "threshold nuclear power", allowing it to retain technological capacity that could later be turned to military use.

One particularly worrying possibility for Gulf states is the idea of Israel striking Iranian atomic sites unilaterally if the US does do a deal with Tehran.

"This puts Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in a very bad position ... they cannot be pro-Israeli politically but they also cannot accept Iran having a nuclear weapon," said the analyst.



"It is difficult to see what they will ultimately get out of it. It's a statement of principle. But it may weaken their ability to gather coalitions and to enlist the help of allies in achieving goals," said Robert Jordan, US ambassador to Riyadh from 2001-03.

One area where Prince Bandar's threat to shift away from the US could be felt most quickly is in Saudi aid to Syrian rebels. "What I think puzzles Riyadh is the American position on Syria. The Americans do not see Syria even close to the way the Saudis see it. It's not a priority for them," said Khaled Al-Dakhil, a Saudi politics professor and columnist for the Al-Hayat pan-Arab daily.

For Riyadh, the outcome of the struggle in Syria will determine whether it, or Iran, ends up with greater influence in the Arab world. The kingdom backs groups it believes are moderate with arms, training, money and logistical support, and has unsuccessfully pressed Washington to join this effort.

Obama is worried that the flow of arms to even moderate groups will end up aiding the militant factions now leading the fight against Assad and has instead urged caution on Riyadh.

Saudi willingness to heed that caution may now change, although it will still avoid backing militant groups.

"The opposition has appropriate equipment, but what they are lacking is training. The Saudis have the means of helping with that," alongside allies such as France and the UAE, a diplomatic source in the Gulf said.


"We are going to do our own thing. We are not going to coordinate with the States. We are not going to listen ... when they say 'you can't give weapons to Syria'," he said. - Reuters

Tags: Saudi | Iran | US | Obama |

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