Saudi rift with Iran likely to hinder U.S. peace effort in Syria
Beneath this weekend’s rupture in Iranian-Saudi relations lies a deeper fault line between the United States and Saudi Arabia that may hamper U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to end Syria’s civil war, current and former U.S. officials said.
The Saudi government’s decision to execute Shi’ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, despite U.S. warnings, illustrated the limits of U.S. influence over the kingdom.
And the Saudi decision to cut diplomatic ties to Iran after outraged Iranian protesters entered, and set fire to, the Saudi embassy in Tehran, runs directly counter to U.S. efforts to promote contact between the two nations, particularly on Syria.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s longshot effort to bring the nearly five-year Syria civil war to an end may be the first casualty of the latest tensions.
The Saudi ambassador to the United Nations, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, on Monday said the Saudis will attend UN-sanctioned talks set to begin in Geneva Jan. 25, but held out little optimism for their success.
U.S. officials acknowledged the Saudi-Iran diplomatic rift diminishes chances for the peace process. “It’s going to make it a lot harder,” said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It’s obviously very fragile,” said a second senior U.S. official.
Current and former U.S. officials said they believed Riyadh and Washington have too many shared interests, from ensuring the flow of oil, to fighting al Qaeda and Islamic State militants and completing huge arms contracts, to permit a fundamental breach.
U.S. and Saudi officials are continuing to work on a $1.29-billion sale of U.S. precision munitions approved in November, according to military and industry sources. The deal, which seeks in part to replenish bombs and missiles used in the Saudi battle against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, should be finalized in coming months.
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