U.S. Should End It's Double Standard On Iran/Saudi Arabia

Iran and Saudi Arabia are probably the two most powerful muslim nations in the Middle East, and they hate each other. That's because each is pushing to make its own muslim brand the dominant one in the region. The Saudis want the Sunni branch of islam to be dominant, while the Iranians want the Shiite branch to be dominant. In other words, they are engaged in what could be called a religious war -- and that war has engulfed all of the Middle East nations.

In what I believe to be a huge mistake, the United States has chosen sides in this religious conflict. It has cast its lot with the Sunnis and against the Shiites (even though the Sunnis are the ones that funded the al-Queda and ISIS terrorists).

This makes no sense. It destroys the U.S. goals by showing the world it is not a neutral power in that region. The U.S. should not be taking sides, especially since neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran reflects the values that Americans cherish. The U.S. would be much better served by changing its policy to one that is truly neutral.

The following is part of an excellent op-ed on this subject by Jason Rezaian in The Washington Post:

U.S. sanctions on Iran are scheduled to go back into effect on Nov. 4. On that day, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) will breathe a massive sigh of relief.

After weeks of international backlash over the murder of my colleague Jamal Khashoggi, MBS will read Trump’s punitive measures against Iran as a green light for him to once again do as he pleases.

But that doesn’t have to be the case.

For years, Saudi Arabia has gotten away with funding terrorism and extremism, suppressing the rights of its people and silencing its critics, often by killing them. These are all activities for which the United States rightfully punishes Iran. But it allows the Saudis to do the same things without reproach.

It is time for that double standard to end.

The butchering of Khashoggi and Riyadh’s attempts to cover it up offer a necessary moment of clarity. They remind us that our relationship with Saudi Arabia is purely transactional, not one based on common values. . . .

Our alliance with Saudi Arabia is based solely on oil, weapons and money.

This is precisely why Saudi Arabia has spent decades and many millions of dollarscultivating its foothold in Washington. Its strength is its ability to wine and dine influencers, underwrite the pet projects of powerful Americans in and out of office, and organize large-scale PR campaigns (including online disinformation).

Unfortunately, as a result, the Washington consensus on security in the Middle East has been hijacked by Saudi Arabia and its backers, whose primary argument is that the kingdom is needed to counter the threat of Iran. . . .

Like Saudi Arabia, Iran has massive oil and gas reserves. But it has many other advantages that the Saudis do not. It has a highly educated population, including many women. It actually produces and exports goods besides energy, including agriculture and cars. It has a political system that, though incredibly narrow in scope and repressive in practice, encourages popular participation.

Any rational thinker would conclude that Iran is a much better long-term partner than Saudi Arabia — as long as Iran is compelled to abandon its most destructive behavior.

The nuclear deal presupposed that Iran would become, if not a partner, at least a more constructive rival. And there was reason to believe this would happen. The United States and Iran cooperated to fight both the Taliban and, later, the Islamic State — both, it should be noted, Saudi-funded terrorist enterprises that undermine global security.

None of the world leaders involved in the Iran nuclear negotiations considered the agreement to be a miraculous panacea to our disputes with Iran. They saw it as an opening, a test worth taking in part because the relationship with Saudi Arabia was becoming untenable.

A rebalancing has long been in order, and that happens only if we can craft a working relationship with Iran. . . .

We desperately need to put an end to the era of unchecked extremism in the Middle East, which has its roots in Tehran and Riyadh. We should adopt a realistic and rational approach, free of double standards, that holds both capitals accountable for the chaos they sow, while incentivizing them to act like responsible global powers.