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King's absence from U.S. summit shows Saudi displeasure over Iran push

12 May 2015 01:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Saudi king's absence from a regional summit to be hosted by President Barack Obama shows how Gulf states, displeased by what they see as U.S. indifference to Iranian meddling in the Arab world, may hesitate to bless any nuclear deal with Tehran, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Analysts and diplomats in the Middle East described King Salman's decision to skip the meeting at Camp David this week as a snub, despite denials from U.S. officials as well as Riyadh's new foreign minister and other Saudi insiders.

Riyadh announced the monarch's no-show on Sunday, only two days after the White House had said he would attend the summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states - some of which have long doubted Obama's commitment to confronting Iranian backing of Shi'ite Muslim militias across the region.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who has strong ties with the U.S. political and security establishment, will represent Saudi Arabia at the May 13-14 gathering along with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's son who serves as the defence minister. Since Salman took power in January, the pair have determined most aspects of Saudi policy.

The Saudi government said one of the main reasons Salman was skipping the summit was because it overlapped with a five-day humanitarian ceasefire in neighboring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is waging a bombing campaign against Iran-allied Houthi rebels.

The leading Gulf Arab power has complained for years that Washington does not take its concerns seriously. It thinks a focus on settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme has distracted the United States from more urgent problems.

Secretary of State John Kerry has tried to reassure the Gulf states that Washington will not accept a bad nuclear deal, saying the Camp David discussions would flesh out commitments that will create "a new security understanding" with the GCC.

Washington is also poised to offer new weapons under a push for a GCC-shared missile defence system, senior U.S. officials said last week.

"The conspiracy theorists of old have been proven right. The U.S. creates threats for us and then offers us more weapons systems. That does not bode well for us," said Sami Alfaraj, a Kuwaiti security adviser to the six-nation GCC.

Riyadh believes Iranian support for militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen is the biggest cause of regional instability, aggravating sectarian tensions, undermining strong government and boosting Sunni Muslim jihadists.

The Saudis fear Obama sees a settlement between world powers and Tehran as his legacy. Such a deal on the nuclear programme - which the West believes may be aimed at building weapons despite Iranian denials - could lift international sanctions without taming the country's regional ambitions, they think.

Backing from the GCC - made up of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman - is important for Obama to show Congress that the Iran deal has broad regional support, despite Israeli opposition.

Salman expressed guarded support for a framework nuclear agreement reached last month, but insists any accord must be robust, verifiable and no threat to Tehran's neighbours.