In one cart can not harness? .. About the union of Tel Aviv and Riyadh
Russian and foreign press vied with each other about a strange alliance that is growing up in the Middle East. We are talking about the strategic friendship of Saudi Arabia and Israel against Iran. Tel Aviv is extremely angry at the rapprochement at the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program of Tehran and Washington and believes that Iran is about to produce five atomic bombs. Riyadh is also uncomfortable with the outlined political growth of the Islamic Republic of Iran: first, Iran is a raw material rival for Arabs; secondly, monarchist Wahhabis feel bad about Shiite Muslims. In Saudi Arabia itself, the Shiite minority is stably oppressed. Both "ally" - Israel and the Saudis - are also disappointed with the US policy on the Syrian issue. President Assad in Syria, who has come close to Hezbollah, does not suit Tel Aviv. This same president is not to the liking of Riyadh: after all, Assad is Shiite. The Saudis would like to turn the secular Syrian state into the territory of Sharia and another hotbed of extremist ideology.The fact that the authorities of Israel and Saudi Arabia are preparing a joint plan of a military operation against Iran, was recently reported by the newspaper "Sight"referring to ITAR-TASS and the British edition of the Sunday Times.
“The governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia are confident that international negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program are not capable of significantly slowing Tehran’s nuclear warhead process,” the Sunday Times reported. “Everything suggests that Riyadh has already agreed to the passage of Israeli aircraft in its airspace during a possible attack on Iran.”
“As soon as the Geneva agreement is signed, an armed operation will immediately be put on the agenda,” the newspaper quotes an unnamed high-ranking diplomat. “Saudi Arabia is outside of itself, it is ready to provide Israel with any necessary assistance.”
In addition, a number of Arab and Israeli media reports that the US President ignores phone calls from the Israeli Prime Minister. The reason is just the differences between the United States and Israel on the attitude towards the Iranian nuclear program. Obama has repeatedly refused to answer Netanyahu, transferring calls to the Secretary of State.
However, it should be added, the relationship of Obama and Netanyahu did not go well before. This was often written in the Western media.
Recently, the union of Israel and the United States in general gave a political crack. At the very least, the powerful Israeli lobby in Washington received a “reprimand” from high-ranking dignitaries from the White House.
At the end of October, lobbyists of Israel’s interests in America received two vyvolochki: about the plans for the construction of a half thousand houses in East Jerusalem and about pushing through the Congress of the new sanctions against Iran.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki presented the US response to Israel’s statement about building 1500 housing units in East Jerusalem, reports MIGnews.com.
"We do not believe that the continuation of settlement activities or construction in East Jerusalem are those steps that create favorable conditions for (Palestinian-Israeli peace) negotiations," Psaki said at a press briefing for journalists. She added: “During the negotiations on the two states, we do not approve of connivance in terms of settlement activity or construction in East Jerusalem.”
According to "Lenta.ru" With reference to The Jerusalem Post, Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice, her deputies Ben Rhodes and Tony Blinken, and US Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Jewish lobbyists in Washington.
All of them demanded that lobbyists stop trying to push new sanctions through the Senate at a time when relations between the United States and Iran began to improve after three decades of discord. As the newspaper notes, the conversation of diplomats and lobbyists was going on "in raised voices."
Two weeks later, the Israeli Prime Minister ordered a review of recent settlement initiatives: the Palestinians threatened to withdraw from the peace talks. This was reported by the press service of the head of government, reports RIA News".
The press service quoted Netanyahu as saying: “This step is not beneficial for the settlements. On the contrary, it hurts. This is a meaningless step, both from a legal and practical point of view, an action that creates unnecessary confrontation with the international community at a time when we are making efforts to convince him to improve the terms of the deal with Iran. ”
Construction Minister Uri Ariel received a scolding from the prime minister: “At such a time, the attention of the international community cannot be diverted from the main task - to prevent an agreement with Iran that would allow it to continue its military-nuclear program. Your actions as a member of the government should be coordinated and thought out. ”
Tel Aviv, as the media notes, went to a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, apparently because Washington was desperate to wait for an allied decision regarding Iran. In addition, Saudi Arabia not only refused a place in the UN Security Council, but also in the person of the prince and chief intelligence officer of the kingdom Bandar bin Sultan disassociated herself from the United States, threatening to even reconsider relations with Washington. And if now the peacemaker and the Nobel laureate Obama is going to be friends with Iran, then Tel Aviv and Riyadh are ready to be friends against Iran.
How real is such a union?
Nikita Sorokin ("Voice of Russia") I interviewed experts on this topic.
Information about the Saudi-Israeli consultations caused quite contradictory opinions among analysts. It’s hard to imagine the format of such a partnership, expert-orientalist of the Institute of Strategic Assessments Sergey Demidenko told Golos Rossii.
“Of course, the general Iranian threat to some extent unites these two states, but by no means so much as to conclude a certain strategic military alliance or an anti-Iran alliance through the special services. This alliance is incredible in principle, but if we begin to fantasize on this topic, then, of course, it will not cause any enthusiasm in other Arab countries. No country in the Arab world is ready to admit Israel. ”
However, the anti-Iranian alliance of Riyadh and Tel Aviv is not so unnatural, said Nikolai Surkov, assistant professor of the Department of Oriental Studies at MGIMO. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Rumors about contacts between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the Iranian issue went long ago, Surkov reminded.
“It’s hard to call an alliance, it’s rather some kind of coordination of efforts, because, of course, no official documents will be signed. Moreover, the neighbors of Saudi Arabia also see Iran as a threat, and, in principle, if it is possible to neutralize this Iranian nuclear threat with Israeli hands, then why not? ”
Comrade Surkov also noted that for the past 20 years, it was Saudi Arabia that did not take a tough position on Israel. The Saudis talked about the need to contain Israel by political and diplomatic methods, but it was not a question of military confrontation.
Brian Murphy (The Associated Press), whose material was published ABC News 20 November, indicates that, strange as this couple looks, but Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia, find a common language - and even a common political language. They are united by mutual concern about Iran, which “probes” the capabilities of Washington. The “nuclear deal” will be able to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, but leave its main element intact - uranium enrichment.
According to Theodore Karasik, a security and policy specialist at the Dubai Military Analytical Institute of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, the journalist cites the above-mentioned adage: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This saying reflects the current relations of Saudi Arabia and Israel.
On November 11, Saudi Press Agency published an official statement, categorically denying material published in the British newspaper The Sunday Times, which referred to the Tel Avia and Riyadh alliance, jointly planning to attack Iran if diplomacy cannot stop Tehran’s nuclear program.
However, observers continue to write about negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. After all, the roots of their fears about Iran - if not alone, then grow side by side.
Israel considers nuclear Iran, the journalist writes further, to be a direct threat to its existence after decades, during which Iranian leaders conducted anti-Israel rhetoric. Israel fears a shift in the regional balance of power. Tel Aviv is believed to have its own nuclear arsenal, but neither confirms nor denies its presence.
In turn, Iran denies that it is developing nuclear weapon. But any of his dealings with world powers is considered a cause for concern: all this may in the future lead to the fact that Iran will demand to put pressure on Israel - about the presence of its nuclear warheads.
Saudi Arabia, which usually sets the political tone for the rest of the Persian Gulf, also sees Iran as a dangerous neighbor. Riyadh and its partners in the Gulf are major customers in the procurement of US weapons and aircraft. In addition, Gulf monarchies allow the Pentagon to have bases in the region, including the 5th headquarters fleet Navy in Bahrain. During his November visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of State John Kerry assured Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal that Washington considers relations with Riyadh to be strong and strong. However, Washington’s refusal to attack Syria caused anger in Riyadh: after all, the Saudis are the main supporters of the Syrian rebels, whose aid channels are believed to be personally supervised by intelligence head Prince Bandar bin Sultan.
Daria Tsilyurik ("Independent newspaper") cites the opinion of the Orientalist, President of the Institute of Religion and Politics Alexander Ignatenko. More than three years ago, on the pages of NG, he wrote that the Israeli-Arabian consensus on Iran was being formed in the Middle East. Sly Arabians would like to get rid of Iran with Israelis. The expert has repeatedly spoken about a secret agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, under which the Saudis have promised to provide their territory for Israeli aircraft in case they go to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
As Comrade Ignatenko emphasized in an interview with an NG correspondent, the British newspaper Sunday Times reported to experts:
“I am sure that these agreements exist for quite a long time and will be implemented if Iran, according to Israel and Saudi Arabia, comes closer to the ability to manufacture a nuclear bomb and connect it with the means of delivery. This situation is absolutely unacceptable neither for Israel, nor for the Arabian monarchies. Tel Aviv and Riyadh will not allow this. ”
The very fact of publication in the Sunday Times, which is rumored in the global media environment, to the Israeli position, is interesting. The informational stuffing, the expert noted, can be viewed as a threat to Iran and a warning to the countries of the “six”.
Probably, this warning was heeded by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Of the last News it is known that he warned Iran about a nuclear program.
21 november portal PanARMENIAN.Netreferring to Interfax, quoted Kerry as saying:
“Iran wants to gain time to step up its nuclear program. The United States will not allow Tehran to use for this negotiations with the "six".
Commenting on the meeting in Geneva, the Secretary of State also told reporters:
"We will not allow this agreement, if it is reached, become a gain of time, or we will not allow such an agreement that will not meet our interests related to our main concerns."
Further, the state secretary noted that the Geneva Six talks with Iran are the most realistic chance in the past decade "to achieve progress and suspend the Iranian nuclear program."
In turn, on the day of the resumption of talks on the Iranian nuclear program in Geneva (November 20) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke in Tehran. He said that in the course of the negotiations his country “not one iota” would not depart from its rights. His words leads "Euronews":
"I insist that the rights of the Iranian nation are protected, including those related to nuclear research."
Ayatollah also stressed that he would not directly intervene in the negotiations in Geneva, but that he had set the “red lines” for the Iranian delegation. And for them she "has no right to retreat."
There is no information about closed negotiations in the press.
The coming days will show where the wind will blow in the Middle East.
Observed and translated by Oleg Chuvakin
- especially for topwar.ru
- especially for topwar.ru
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