Kerry and Saudi FM meet to soothe frayed ties

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: When he was negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran, Secretary Kerry spent many hours with his Iranian counterpart, and Kerry is now suggesting that relationship with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was key in getting the USA sailors back. Republicans lawmakers in the U.S. C Congress see the president as too concerned with protecting the nuclear agreement, his signature foreign policy achievement, and too willing to forsake the concerns of America’s bulwarks of support in the Mideast, including Israel. Today, Iran released 10 US sailors along with a video appearing to show one of them apologizing for straying into Iranian waters.

Conscious of these perceptions, the administration moved warily into the Saudi-Iran spat that erupted over New Year’s weekend.

“And I know that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agrees with that”. So the USA will continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia to allow it to maintain a bit of balance-with the latest deal approved in October-and Washington and Tehran will continue to play cat and mouse as they near a nuclear deal and a removal of sanctions.

The painfully misguided wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are enough to deter the current USA administration from entering into full-fledged war in the Syrian and Yemen theaters.

The Saudis are losing their proxy wars in both Syria and Yemen; their OPEC leadership is under threat; they are not winning the crude oil price war; and its long-running alliance with the West is in question. Our objective is to work through the process that was started in Vienna in order to arrive at a peaceful settlement based on Geneva I and the outcomes of the Vienna talks and the most recent United Nations Security Council resolution. And unlike previous efforts, Washington now believes uniting Assad and rebels in a unity government is critical for defeating the Islamic State.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran after an attack on its embassy in Tehran last week following the kingdom’s execution of Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 mostly Sunni Muslims convicted on terrorism charges.

He added, “We also understand the challenges that the kingdom and other countries feel in the region about interference in their countries”. Iranian hardliners have criticized him for overstepping his limited mandate to speak with Kerry about nuclear matters.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Thursday in London to discuss ongoing diplomatic tensions between Saudi and Iran, as well as other global issues, including the crisis in Syria. Once Iran completes the task, probably in coming days, it should begin to reap massive economic benefits. As they make good on their promises, both Kerry and Zarif have raised the prospect of even more engagement to come.