Gates Appeals to Saudi King On Tougher Sanctions Against Iran
Gates met with King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdelaziz al-Saud after arriving in Riyadh yesterday from Afghanistan, as the Obama administration shifts from engagement to pressure intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
The U.S. is trying to persuade China, which holds a UN Security Council veto, to back a resolution that may penalize Iranian banking, shipping and insurance industries. Saudi Arabia, the Middle Easts largest producer of crude oil, is Chinas biggest supplier, and Gatess mission follows Secretary of State Hillary Clintons visit last month to make a similar pitch.
Saudi Arabia could “help us in our efforts at the UN so that we can get meaningful sanctions enacted against Iran,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters accompanying the defense chief.
The Saudis seemed to be supportive of the U.S. shift, according to an American defense official who briefed reporters on Gatess meetings on condition of anonymity. Gates explained that the U.S. prefers to target the Iranian leadership to the extent possible and minimize the impact on the Iranian people.
Closing Ranks
The visit by Gates to the kingdom is intended to project the impression that partners in the region are closing ranks in opposition to Irans nuclear and missile development and its support of terrorist groups such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Gates aims to demonstrate that Irans military buildup in defiance of international demands wont make the country more secure and may backfire.
Weapons purchases by U.S.-allied Persian Gulf nations have grown in recent years, along with joint military training and exercises, according to an American defense official who briefed reporters before the trip.
Saudi Arabia has been among the top three buyers of U.S. defense equipment and services in three periods examined by the Congressional Research Service since fiscal 2001. Deliveries to the kingdom topped the list in 2008, the latest year reported, with a total value of $1.2 billion, ranking just ahead of Israel.
Modernize Forces
Saudi Arabia wants to do more to modernize its force, and the U.S. is helping determine how best to accomplish that, the briefer said. The kingdom didnt make any specific requests, the official said.
Iran opened a new production facility to build short-range missiles that can reach targets at sea, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said this week in remarks carried by the state-run Fars news agency.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who defends his countrys nuclear program as a legitimate energy-development effort, also was in Kabul, overlapping with Gates. The U.S. defense chief expressed amusement at the schedule.
Conspiratorialists
“Its clearly fodder for all conspiratorialists,” Gates told reporters at a briefing with his Afghan counterpart, Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, before he left for Saudi Arabia. Gates reiterated the U.S. position that Afghanistan should have constructive ties with all its neighbors.
“But we also want all of Afghanistans neighbors to play an upfront game in dealing with the government of Afghanistan,” Gates said. The U.S. says Iran is providing funding and other assistance to the insurgency in Afghanistan in an effort to ensure that the coalition led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization fails in the war against the Taliban.
On Iraq, the Saudis are still not ready to commit to opening an embassy in Baghdad, a longstanding request from the U.S., the official said. Iraqis are awaiting official results from parliamentary elections held March 7, as candidates jockey for positions in a likely coalition government.
The Obama administration hopes to ease the effect of its troop withdrawal in the next 18 months by encouraging regional partners to serve as a bulwark for Iraq, which was ostracized under Saddam Hussein.