Biden’s Middle East trip is seasoned with oil
US President Joe Biden’s trip to West Asia, which will begin on July 13 (July 22) and will continue until July 26, is carried out with multiple goals from the eyes of observers. Occupied Palestine and Saudi Arabia have been targeted during this diplomatic trip, which is taking place for the first time in the last two years.
According to published reports on the details of the itinerary, Biden’s plane will first land at Israel’s “Ben Gurion” airport; Meeting with the officials of the Zionist regime such as the new Prime Minister Yair Lapid and the Minister of War Benny Gantz, visiting the Israeli security systems at the Palmachim Air Base and trying to normalize Tel Aviv-Riyadh relations in the form of the Middle East NATO project, among others. These goals and plans are considered.
Biden’s diplomatic capo to form a coalition with a series of disparate Hebrew-Arab groups and advance the regional missile defense shield plan will add to regional tensions rather than making the White House’s dream a reality.
Biden’s diplomatic effort to form a coalition with a series of heterogeneous Hebrew-Arab groups and to advance the regional missile defense shield plan will increase regional tensions rather than making the White House’s dream a reality. In a report, the “Quincy” think tank warns that Biden’s emphasis on principles such as the normalization of relations between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia or the promotion of the plan to establish a regional air defense shield in the Middle East, could lead to the increasing irritation of Iran and the escalation of tensions in the region.
Therefore, one of the most important recommendations of experts to Biden is that he should abandon the advancement of his regional missile defense shield plan and not insist on it, because the advancement of this agenda is contrary to the White House’s claim to establish peace and stability in the region. It proves West Asia.
Biden’s eyes on Saudi oil
After Israel, Saudi Arabia is Biden’s next destination, and based on the previously announced schedule, he will attend the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council leaders’ meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, July 16.
A trip to Saudi Arabia is associated with the smell of oil and the Ukraine crisis casts a shadow on it; The crisis that in the past four and a half months has led the Westerners to a strategic dilemma, to the point where despite the severe sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, they have asked these two countries to increase oil exports.
“Economist” magazine, quoting a French official who spoke on the sidelines of the “Group of Seven” (G7) summit, reported that “the goal of Paris in lifting this restriction is to reduce the pressure on Russia due to reliance on energy supply.”
The demand of the Westerners from the countries that are under the heavy sanctions of the United States for decades tells about the deplorable economic situation of this country in the post-crisis environment of Ukraine, so that contrary to the continuous inflation rate of 2%, now the inflation rate of the United States has exceeded the limit of 8%, which undoubtedly The continuation of the crisis, its growing trend will continue.
In such a situation, it is not difficult to understand one of the main goals of Biden’s trip, despite the darkness of Washington-Riyadh relations in the last two years, and that is the demand to increase oil exports with the aim of reducing its price; An issue that has confused and worried not only America but also its European allies.
It should be noted that the price of oil rose to the highest level since 2008 and reached more than 139 dollars per barrel in March after the imposition of extensive US and European sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. Although prices have decreased slightly since then, they are still trading above $115 per barrel due to limited supply and concerns over OPEC+’s small excess production capacity.
Oil prices rose to their highest level since 2008 and reached more than 139 dollars per barrel in March after the US and Europe imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The hopes of the Westerners from the meeting of OPEC+ on Thursday, July 9th also turned into despair because the member countries decided to jointly increase their oil production by 648,000 barrels per day in August, which is enough to fill the gap in the energy market. is not.
A journey whose prospects are not clear
In recent weeks, after hearing rumors of Biden’s first trip to the region, many political experts tried to analyze this trip from different angles, especially the effort of the White House to accompany Saudi oil.
It should be remembered that unlike the four-year period of “Donald Trump”, relations between Washington and Riyadh have always been tense in the last two years; An issue that is rooted in Biden’s 2020 election slogans and the story of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and a journalist critical of Saudi Arabia, which American security organizations believe was ordered by the Saudi Crown Prince.
In the primary debate of the Democratic Party held in 2019, Biden used the word “praya” (despicable) to address the Saudi crown prince and pledged that as the president of the United States, he would force the government of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to pay the price for the murder of Khashoggi. to pay
In the past months, when the energy crisis was created in the world, especially in the West, Al Saud ignored Washington and refused to increase exports under various excuses. According to many experts, Biden’s current trip to Saudi Arabia will not lead to the desired result of the White House.
As the American think tank “Foreign Affairs” considered this trip a “mistake” and the analytical database “Grid” wrote in a report: It seems unlikely that Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia will be as glamorous as Trump’s famous trip in 2017. It’s electric and there’s definitely no sword dancing and expensive gifts.
The President of the United States is also looking at the mid-term congressional elections, in which the probability of the Democrats’ defeat is very high due to inefficiency.
The bitter irony of the story is that the White House is playing with the Saudi pawn to get out of two simultaneous domestic economic and political crises; Accusing Riyadh of violating human rights and asking for help from Saudi Arabia are two contradictory behaviors and show the priority of economic interests over their human values.
In addition to Biden’s diplomatic effort to get out of the economic crisis that was mentioned earlier, the American president also has a glimpse of the mid-term elections of the Congress, in which, due to inefficiency, the probability of the Democrats’ defeat is very high, and if this situation continues, this spectrum Political parties will face serious challenges in the 2024 presidential elections.