Walking a diplomatic tightrope: Can the US improve its diplomacy in Middle East?

US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, visited Saudi Arabia and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in what was described as a two-meeting approach to achieve several goals with one stone.

The first meeting was notable for the participation of the National Security Council's Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, and the Presidential Coordinator at the Department of State, Amos Hochstein.

The second meeting was not just with the Saudi and American officials but included Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Governor of Abu Dhabi and National Security Advisor in the UAE, and Ajit Doval, Indian National Security Advisor.

Several goals behind these two meetings

There are goals for these two meetings at several levels.

First, at the level of the strained relationship between Saudi Arabia and the current US administration, it can be said that the visit aims to be among the steps taken to improve the relationship.

Second, on the diplomatic level, the US and Israel behind it seek to urge the Kingdom to take steps that contribute to improving relations with Tel Aviv.

It is worth noting that, according to some sources, it is still too early to talk about normalization between the two, especially in light of the escalation between Israelis and Palestinians.

Third, at the economic level, the meeting that included the UAE and India is particularly important.

According to Axios, the US seeks to include Saudi Arabia in a project that connects Arab and Gulf countries with a railway directly linked to India, facilitating trade from India to Israeli ports.

This project was proposed at the I2U2 Forum, which included the US, Israel, the UAE, and India. Its details indicate that cargo is shipped from India to the UAE by sea, then transported by train from the UAE to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israeli ports, and European countries.

However, the Axios article mentioned that the project, due to its economic importance, is seen as a way for the US to combat China's expansion in the Middle East and contribute to adding a new building block to the normalization plan between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

These details were absent from the official statement, which only mentioned the American praise for the ceasefire in Yemen and its thanks to the Kingdom for assisting in evacuating American citizens from Sudan.

Furthermore, Sullivan and his accompanying delegation visited Tel Aviv to place it in the context of his talks in Saudi Arabia.