America’s eyes are still on the Middle East
Meeting “Jeddah and the consequences of Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia for Iran and the region” It was organized by the Arabian Studies Group and the Iranian Studies Group of the Iranian Association of West Asian Studies in collaboration with the House of Humanities Thinkers. “Mehdi Zakarian” Associate Professor of International Relations at Islamic Azad University and responsible director of International Studies Quarterly As one of the speakers in this meeting, he made the following remarks:
The Middle East is still important to America
Zakarian points to the events in the West Asian region and says that these events contradicted the evaluations and analyzes of researchers and professors specializing in the Middle East. The analysis was that the Middle East has lost its importance for the United States, the attention of the United States is more focused on China and they are interested in focusing issues in that region, and the actions that have been taken could show that the Middle East is not very important, but the trip Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia was in a way a counterpoint to all these analyses, because issues that were important to America in the past have once again received their attention.
The editor-in-chief of the International Studies Quarterly continues to refer to the war between Russia and Ukraine and believes that this conflict brought the role of the Middle East into focus once again, which can influence the balance between Russia and Ukraine.
Zakarian: The war between Russia and Ukraine brought attention to the Middle East once again, which can affect the balance between these two countries.
They want to show Iran as a fake enemy
The associate professor of international relations of Islamic Azad University points to the position and situation of Iran in the region and states that in the comments made during Biden’s visit, both by the President of the United States and other leaders, he showed the impression that Iran is considered as an actor. but Iran’s acting shows that they want to show Iran as a fake enemy so that they can focus in the region to create a suitable order of their own. Unfortunately, in Iran, some comments help them to create that fake enemy.
He further adds: So, the Middle East issue has maintained its importance and this importance is effective, and they consider Iran as a fake enemy, which has become the unifying factor of Israel and the Arabs, and the West and the United States also produce weapons and sell them to the countries of the region.
Western countries and America have closed their eyes about human rights in Israel and Saudi Arabia
Zakarian refers to the discussion of human rights in the Middle East region and says: In international relations, we have one concept of protection and promotion, and the second is the concept of human rights. What Western countries and the United States ignore about the Middle East region regarding Israel and Saudi Arabia is the issue of supporting and promoting human rights, and they do not show sensitivity in countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
But what has been of interest to them is human rights customs, and Western countries and the United States have become sensitive to it, and in order to advance their own goals, they want the countries of the region to observe it. It means the same thing that Muhammad bin Salman is doing in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Muhammad bin Salman only observes human rights customs and makes symbolic reforms and they put it on display in order to keep these countries satisfied with themselves.
In the end, the associate professor of international relations of Islamic Azad University adds: Although Iran is ahead of other countries in the region in terms of protecting and promoting human rights, some people are not aware that the issue of human rights should be paid attention to so that they cannot exploit it politically and that image which they want to provide from Iran.