Biden’s gaze on Iran is turned to the past, but three signs advise against turning back
While Joe Biden seems to be heading towards the presidency of the United States, three news items arrive from the Middle East that seem to be real messages, direct and indirect, to the probable next tenant of the White House. Messages that should make Biden immediately understand that the policy towards Iran must not deviate too much from the course imposed by the Trump administration.
The first message, the killing of al-Qaeda's number two in Tehran: Muhammad al-Masri was shot in the car together with his daughter (wife of Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza). This operation, according to several Israeli observers, was not only proof of the excellent collaboration between the CIA and Mossad, but also a message from the Mossad to Biden regarding Jerusalem's determination not to allow Iran to pursue its policy. terrorist in the region (in this sense, read Yossi Melman in Haaretz ).
The second message, much more direct and worrying, comes from Saudi Arabia. Speaking in an interview with the German agency Dpa News , Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir called it an absolutely feasible option for Riyadh to equip itself with a nuclear weapon. According to al-Jubeir, in fact, if Iran becomes a nuclear power, several other countries will follow his example. Among these countries, precisely, Saudi Arabia which, according to al-Jubeir, "has made it very clear to everyone that it will do everything to protect its population and defend its territories". Pressed on the next possible US administration, al-Jubeir warned that only pressure works with the Iranian regime and that the Saudi government will judge Biden for what he does.
Last week, shortly after the media announcement of Biden's victory, Saudi King Salman Abdulaziz al-Saud himself had spoken to a meeting of government advisers, stressing the need for the world to take a "decisive position" against the nuclear program and missile of Iran.
The Saudi threat to acquire the nuclear device must not be taken lightly. Riyadh has been cooperating with China for years , with which it has built a plant for the extraction of the so-called "yellowcake" , or uranium oxide, from which enrichment for civil and military use of the uranium extracted. According to intelligence, this plant is located in the city of Al-Ula.
Not to mention that, according to Reuters , in March 2019 the Trump administration approved six secret authorizations to some companies to sell nuclear technology and technical assistance in Riyadh.
In September 2020, the Guardian wrote that Saudi Arabia currently has enough uranium reserves to produce 90,000 tons from three depots in the country, located between the north and the center of the Sunni monarchy.
The latest message comes again from Israel. After discovering a bomb on the border, on Wednesday 18 November, the Israeli army reacted by hitting some military sites in Syria on the border with Israel and bombing an Iranian command center in Damascus. At least ten people were killed in the attacks , including three Syrian officers and five members of the Iranian Qods Force. The anomalous aspect of this attack is that this time Israel was quick to take responsibility for it, again with the intention of making it clear that, even in that area of the Middle East, no one should think that it is possible to go back. giving back any freedom of action to the Iranians. "We will not allow Iran to militarily entrench itself in Syria against us, nor will we tolerate any attempted attack against us from Syrian territory", reiterated Prime Minister Netanyahu.
In short, although no one in the Middle East thinks that Biden will not try to rethink the American strategy towards Iran, however, many actors do not seem willing to allow the clock to be turned back four years, returning to the failed agreement with the Iranians. concluded by Obama in 2015. Which instead seems exactly the objective of Tehran: "If Biden is willing to respect the commitments of the United States, we too can immediately return to our commitments", assured Iranian foreign minister Zarif yesterday.
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/lo-sguardo-di-biden-sulliran-e-rivolto-al-passato-ma-tre-segnali-sconsigliano-il-dietrofront/ on Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:55:00 +0000.