US and Balance in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia has never felt comfortable with Iran, even before the Revolution. Memoirs written by officials of Iran’s former regime, including Assadollah Alam, indicate that the Shah had always used belittling terms regarding Saudi Arabia’s role in the region. Since the establishment of the al-Saud regime and particularly since the time when this country was able to sell its oil to the world, although Saudi Arabia was an ally of the US, it always considered Iran as its rival; a rival which could not easily be substituted.

Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Saudi Arabia assumed that conditions in Iran had changed and it could use this opportunity to present itself as the number one ally of the US in the Middle East. It was even involved in the imposed war against Iran. But time has shown that Saudi Arabia had made a wrong assumption about post-Revolution Iran and not only could it not force Iran, as a source of inspiration, out of regional equations, but it also had to retreat in many cases against Iran. Saudi Arabia has spent a huge amount of money for propaganda and cultural issues but the people of the world, from Africa to south-east Asia, have shown interest in Iran.

Today, despite all the efforts made by Saudi Arabia, Iran is recognized as an important player in the region. Iran’s role was emphasized by its invitation to the recent Vienna Conference on Syria. These issues have angered Saudi Arabia. Before the coming to power of the new king in Saudi Arabia, former heads of this country, especially King Abdullah, made efforts to observe the rules of the game despite their negative views about Iran. But the new rulers of Saudi Arabia do not pursue the same path. The new king, who is ill, does not play a significant role in running the country and the prince is actually in charge. These young rulers believe that they should change their approach with regard to Iran. The new government in Saudi Arabia has made mistakes about its allies. The present US administration is no longer capable of direct interventions in the Middle East and attempts to create a balance between the regional players and use one to contain the other. In this policy, Saudi Arabia cannot count on the US as before; on one hand, Saudi Arabia supports the terrorist groups and the US is not pleased with this policy. Although the US believes in using the terrorist groups as a pawn, it feels Saudi Arabia’s approach is not well thought out. Therefore, the US does not support the Saudi approach in this regard and attempts to contain it. On the other hand, the US believes that it can interact with Iran instead of direct confrontation. Saudi rulers are not happy with the US approach towards Iran.

We hope that wise individuals in Saudi Arabia point out these significant issues to the leaders of this country.