(PatrioticPost.com)- 19FortyFive.com, the preeminent defense and national security site, reports that President Joe Biden of the United States attended the Jeddah Security and Development Summit with representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations on the last day of his visit to the Middle East this month. As well as bilateral relations, they talked about regional security.
Early in Biden’s administration, the White House had cut off relations between the United States and the Gulf states. The Biden administration departed from these key allies due to alleged human rights breaches. Biden’s tough language and stance towards Riyadh intensified in response to the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi regime. During the 2019 Democratic debate, the president even referred to Saudi Arabia as a pariah. A change in strategy for the administration may be seen in Biden’s attendance at the GCC conference and his promise to maintain defense connections with all of its members, including Riyadh.
All GCC members participated in the two-day Jeddah Summit, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar. According to Arab News, GCC Secretary General Nayef al-Hajraf stated that the conference served as a regional and international platform to address security issues, challenges, areas of development and aspirations and to integrate efforts toward enhancing stability and prosperity in the region and the world, especially in light of the accelerating challenges it is witnessing at all levels and fields. Al-Hajraf stressed the importance of the GCC in maintaining regional peace and stability.
The GCC was established in 1981 with the intention of fostering harmony and collaboration among Gulf nations. Doha is accused by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain of backing Iran and its totalitarian government. A three-year exile from the GCC came to an end in 2021 when the embargo on Doha was removed. The Al-Ula Declaration was signed, putting an end to a dispute intended to reunite the Gulf states. Iran has been using proxies to fight wars around the area for many years.
Iran’s strikes have strengthened relations between Israel, the U.S., and GCC nations. At the conference in Jeddah, Biden promised that the United States would “not walk away.”
