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Saudi Editor: America Is Dismantling the Pillars of Its Regional Order

(Jerusalem Post) Mohammed Alyahya - As a Saudi who went to college in the U.S., loves America and wants to see it strong, I am increasingly disturbed by the unreality of the American discussion about the Saudi-U.S. relationship. The nuclear deal with Iran paves a path for Iran to a nuclear bomb. It fills the war chest of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has spread militias across the Arab world armed with precision-guided munitions to maim and kill people who formerly looked to America to help guarantee their safety. Sold to the American public as an arms control agreement, the Iran deal is an assault on the regional order that the U.S. established in the aftermath of World War II. The deal replaces the former American-led regional security structure with a system in which Iran, backed by Russia and China, becomes America's new subcontractor, while America's former allies - the Gulf States and Israel - are demoted to second-tier status. Most importantly, the deal takes the U.S. out of the business of containing Iran, which has further ramped up its attacks. The Iranian-backed Houthi rocket attack against Aramco in Jeddah was only the latest in a long series of brazen attacks that Iran has conducted, either directly or through proxies. It was not that long ago that the U.S. presented itself to its allies as their shield against all actors who sought regional hegemony. Today, Arab states in the region, and especially Saudi Arabia, conclude that if the Americans won't side with Israel against Iran, what's the chance they will side with us? The Biden administration's determination to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal has convinced Saudis that America is determined to dismantle the regional order that it created, no matter what demons it may unleash. The writer, a fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, is former editor-in-chief of Al Arabiya English.
2022-03-31 00:00:00
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