Dubai- Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman, in coordination with China, will form a joint navy to protect security in the Persian Gulf, Qatar’s Al-Jadid news website announced.
This past March, China, Russia, and Iran held joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Top Saudi and Iranian diplomats also met in China for the first time in over seven years in April, confirming the reopening of their embassies and consulates and resuming direct flights and visa facilitation for citizens.
China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia each have interests in friendly relations. China purchases oil from the other two countries. Iran’s oil sales are limited by U.S. sanctions, so it needs the Chinese as buyers. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to focus on national economic projects instead of expending resources on the war in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi militia launches drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Ties between China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman are at odds with U.S. interests. The UAE recently halted participation in an American-led maritime security coalition in the Gulf region without formally notifying the U.S. That move followed Iran’s seizures of multiple oil tankers in the region and may have been driven by the sense that the U.S. is not adequately protecting Gulf allies from Iranian aggression. U.S. officials viewed the seizures as a violation of international law and a threat to regional security. Still, the Biden administration has failed to enforce sanctions on Iran as its oil sales rise.
The joint navy’s formation may reflect the statement of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, who said that “the security of the Persian Gulf is provided by Iran and the countries of the region, and there is no need for you [the U.S.] or any other country to be present.”
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project and national-security and counterterrorism expert, told National Review that the navy may simply be charged with preventing piracy and drug-trafficking in the region, but “if this is meant to be a defensive navy, that’s much more concerning. . . . This is intended, most likely, to snub the U.S., even Joe Biden. The U.S.–Saudi relationship has deteriorated over the years,” he noted. “We’ve cozied up to Qatar. It’s understandable that the Saudis are concerned over what appears to be a shift of American friendship.”
Filitti also noted that China may have broader interests in the Middle East, where, apart from the Abraham Accords, America has kept its “head in the sand,” and, “in the absence of leadership, China has stepped in.” Beijing may hope to gain a peacemaker status that helps it access oil. China may also be “spreading us thin,” in hopes of distracting and weakening the U.S. as Beijing contemplates eventually taking Taiwan.
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