Saudi Arabia and Iran are attempting to heal wounds as the United States retreats

Two Middle East archrivals are taking matters into their own hands as Gulf Arab governments lose trust in the United States’ commitment to their security.

Iran said on Monday that it and Saudi Arabia had had a fifth round of negotiations late last week. According to an Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, the talks between the two regional giants were “progressive and pleasant.” Saudi Arabia has yet to respond to the allegations.
According to the ministry’s official, discussions are ongoing to send 40,000 Iranian pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj this year.

While previous talks have focused on relatively minor issues such as pilgrimage to holy sites and were only attended by intelligence officials, the potential inclusion of foreign ministry-level officials in future talks could signal significant progress and a desire to resolve some of the region’s most intractable conflicts.

In 2016, after Iranian demonstrators stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran following the killing of a Shi’ite preacher in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh broke ties with Tehran. Frustrated by what they perceive as the United Rulers’ lack of interest in their security problems, Gulf Arab states have recently begun to take matters into their own hands, reaching out to competitors and opponents to avert confrontations that may devastate their economy.
In recent years, players thought to be backed by Iran, particularly Yemen’s Houthi rebels, have attacked oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf nations were unimpressed by the US response in both situations, triggering a reassessment of a long-standing foundation of the US-Gulf alliance that guaranteed Arab consideration for US oil requirements in exchange for American security assurances. The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to Gulf security by upgrading regional missile defences. President Biden named Michael Ratney, a career diplomat, as the new US ambassador to Riyadh on Friday. If approved, he will be the country’s first professional diplomat in more than three decades.
The Gulf governments’ subdued response to the war in Ukraine was the clearest indication of this reconsideration. The US allies haven’t fully backed the Biden administration’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and regional leaders have cited the conflict as an example of a shifting world order in which the West may have less influence than it previously had.