One front against Iran: U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, And the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain will arrive in Israel early next week, for a round of joint policy meetings. The four arrive at the invitation of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, for the first political summit of its kind, which will take place on Sunday and Monday.
The background to the contacts is the negotiations currently underway in Vienna, for the signing of a new nuclear agreement with Iran, when Israel is trying to expand the front against Tehran. At the same time, there are estimates that another issue that will come up during the talks is also the establishment of a free trade agreement between Israel and the Emirates.
In addition, the IDF Spokesman announced that today (Friday) was the first official military visit to Morocco, which was attended by the Head of the Strategy Division, Maj. Gen. Tal Kalman, the Head of the Foreign Relations Division, Brigadier General Efi Dafrin, and the Chief of the Operations Division, Brigadier General C. During the visit to the city of Rabat, the commanders met with the Inspector General of the Moroccan Army, General Balhir al-Farouk, and senior members of the General Staff.
Nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and the powers. Photo: Reuters
As you may recall, tensions between the United States and the Gulf states have recently been reported on several occasions, against the background of their criticism of US policy on Iran, ahead of the signing of a new nuclear agreement. Against the background of the tension, a political source told Maariv earlier this week that Israel is in talks with the Emirates and the United States in an attempt to reassure the parties.
- Warriors needed: The exceptional request of a company commander in reserve in the Armored Corps
The Washington Post also reported about two weeks ago that the White House tried to arrange telephone conversations between President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and UAE Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed – but without success. According to the report, citing officials in the United States and the Middle East, the background to the attempt is the efforts of the Americans to succeed in building an international support system in Ukraine, alongside the surge in oil prices.
It was also reported at the time that the White House is currently trying to work to repair relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two key countries in the Middle East, which the administration needs alongside it. An American source who spoke to the newspaper further noted that the Biden administration is working hard to strengthen the air defense capability of the two, and that America will do more in the coming months to help the two Gulf states defend themselves. “It may not be all they want,” he explained, “but the United States is trying to address their security concerns.”