China played a key role in brokering an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume ties after seven years of hostility. This development is being analysed by the US, China, Middle Eastern experts and most agree that this is bound to have long term security implications for the region. The latest development also hints at China- Iran- Russia nexus, which would trigger a realignment of forces across the globe. China has Russia firmly under its arm and is now holding keys to Iran’s authoritarian government too. Iran has been a pariah nation for the US and its western allies, Russia too has reached the dubious distinction after the Ukraine war, and now these two forces are aligning with China, a move which would have repercussions in the US, Europe and in Middle East.
It is also a sign of waning US influence in the region and growing Chinese clout. The accord marks diplomatic one-upmanship for Beijing in a region where Washington has long dominated geopolitics but is now finding itself cornered and outmanoeuvred by Beijing.
This development has come at a time when Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chiense president, making him the country’s most powerful leader in generations. Under an all-powerful Xi , Chinese position is bound to harden in world of diplomacy. Its manipulations in different regions including in Middle East controlling nations through its economic, military might would increase.
It also shows the void created by Washington’s de-prioritization of the region is bound to be filled by China. It will lead to further Chinese meddling in the Persian Gulf and increase Beijing’s interference. The interests of the US and China are bound to clash. Smaller nation in ME would feel threatened by Beijing’s growing clout as it puts its weight behind Saudi Arabia and Iran. Beijing’s oil interests as well as its strategy to dominate world politics would play out in the Gulf region in the days to come.
Though USA has welcomed the move between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but according to experts, it’s a setback for US strategic interests as China would use its relations in Persian Gulf to pursue its interests and to further create a wedge between America and Middle Eastern nations. This will hit America in the long run in more ways than one as China grows its political and economic clout in the region at the cost of the US.
It comes as the U.S. has been trying to broker a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, an effort now clouded with uncertainty. Aaron David Miller, a veteran U.S. negotiator in the Middle East was quoted by The Wall street Journal and he said the deal reflects smaller powers readjusting to Washington’s de-prioritization of the region.
China is the biggest trading partner for Saudi Arabia, the US is second. The US is the biggest security partner of Saudi Arabia as of yet, but it seems China is working hard to become the actual security partner. This will further reduce America’s influence in ME.
China has been striving built closer economic ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia, both of which are important suppliers of oil to the world’s second-largest economy. After brokering an agreement between the two, Beijing has now forayed into the deep politics of the Middle East, which was mostly dominated by the US.
It comes at a time when relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, long aligned with Washington, have grown strained over America’s diminishing security guarantees and Riyadh’s decision to cut oil production to keep crude prices high during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Aaron David Miller told The Wall street Journal, “The Saudis see a multipolar future with China and Russia as important partners-fellow autocrats who don’t ask questions about human rights.”
Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace added,“But it’s also a real slap in the face to Biden. At a time when U.S.-China relations are getting colder, MBS is getting cozier with Beijing,” he said, using Prince Mohammed’s initials.
