“We will not leave and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran. And we will seek to build on this moment with active and principled American leadership,” the US president said. “The United States is going nowhere.” Biden, who was on his first tour of the region, in part aimed at persuading Gulf states to pump more oil, was speaking at a summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah where the heads of the Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan. His government is already at odds with key Middle Eastern allies such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over a range of issues, including human rights. Some Arab states, including the Gulf, where the countries rely heavily on US security assistance, have worried about what they see as US disengagement in the region, which in turn has drawn them closer to Russia and China. Relations between Washington and Riyadh particularly soured when Biden vowed to make the country a pariah during his presidential campaign, citing the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. The CIA concluded that Saudi crown prince and day-to-day leader Mohammed bin Salman ordered the operation, which the prince denies. Biden met the crown prince for the first time on Friday. He said after the meeting that he had raised Khashoggi’s case with the prince and that he expected Saudi Arabia to increase oil production in the coming weeks. A Saudi official told reporters that the country would increase production if there was market demand. Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, has been pressing the US for more military aid to counter Iranian power in the region and to defend itself against Houthi rebels in Yemen who have attacked facilities in both Gulf countries. It was not immediately clear whether Biden’s visit would lead to an increase in military support and aid to Saudi Arabia. “As we continue to work closely with many of you to address the threats[in]. . . the region from Iran, we are also pursuing diplomacy to return restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. But no matter what, the United States is committed to ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon,” Biden said. On the sidelines, the president met with the leaders of Egypt, Iraq and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, whom he invited to Washington. Biden, who visited Israel and the Palestinian territories before arriving in Saudi Arabia, scored a foreign policy victory during the trip, with Saudi Arabia announcing it would open its skies to all overflights to and from the Israel after US-brokered relations. Israel has agreed to transfer multinational peacekeepers from two Red Sea islands that Egypt ceded to Saudi Arabia in 2017. US officials said they expected full diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel to take years to establish and made clear before the trip that they did not expect any major breakthroughs. The arrangements brokered between Saudi Arabia and Israel during the trip fell short of peace deals brokered by the US between Israel and four Arab countries in 2020. Saudi Arabia said it would normalize ties with Israel only when settle its conflict with the Palestinians.
