More than a week has passed since Biden’s ascension to the White House and some things which were being predicted are becoming crystal clear. One of them is Biden administration’s willingness to go to any lengths to resurrect the dead Iran nuclear deal, even if it costs the security and safety of USA’s longstanding allies in the region. And it will only give more manoeuvring space for the Iranians and in turn to the Chinese.
China and Iran have formed a deep alliance, which has been best exemplified by the Iran-China 25-year Cooperation Program where China agreed to inject $280 billion to $400 billion as FDI into Iranian oil, gas and petrochemical industries. With restoring Iran nuclear deal, the USA will not only leave its friends to fend for themselves, but it will also lose the leadership of the Middle East. However, this is not it, with the USA gone and its allies trying to find a way to restructure positions in the region, the power void will embolden Turkey which is always willing to destabilise the region. This will also set a precedent for Ankara to become more and more emboldened.
With the Biden administration cutting slack for the Iranians just for a return to the Obama era policy, doesn’t mean everything will go back to the pre-2012 era. China has already gained some ground in the region and is now collaborating with the Iranians and even Turkey. The fact that the USA is going to go easy on its Middle East adversaries, Ankara will most-likely give wings to its nuclear ambitions and with the Chinese providing it with the technological know-how. The USA would not be able to do anything, given it is going easy on Iran and it will have no moral standing to assert to Erdogan.
Biden has called for a return of American internationalism. He intends to return to the Iranian nuclear deal and is also believed to have a soft spot for China. Both these states have suddenly upped the ante in regards to their calls on what they consider to be their national interests. And as the Iranians know Biden’s priority for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, it is trying to maximise the gains.
Iran and China have grown to become close allies and as mentioned earlier, the Chinese investment is the shining example for the same. The original plan for cooperation had been brought by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2016 during a visit to Iran. President Hassan Rouhani signed the final draft of the program on June 23, 2020, in a cabinet meeting and ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finalize the negotiations. On October 1, 2020, President Rouhani sent a message to Xi Jinping, paramount leader of China about signing the program.
With this, Iran was able to withstand the USA’s constant punches which came in the form of vociferous sanctions. And China was able to gain a foothold in the region. However, Iran was just holding on and preferred a change in USA’s leadership, which became a reality recently.
However, Joe Biden has lost track of the USA’s foreign policy and it is playing directly in the hands of the Chinese. He has embarked on the mission to destroy all the well thought alliances that his predecessor President Donald Trump very meticulously built and all this just to prove that he is returning to Obama era. Biden administration had succeeded in antagonising all its MENA (the Middle East & North Africa) allies within a week of being in office. Washington has now put a dual whammy on its allies, by firstly restoring aid to the Palestinians and reversing the Trump-era policy and secondly, he has appointed Robert Malley as the next US special representative to Iran, who is supported by the Jewish anti-Israel co-head of the radical left-wing group Code Pink, Ariel Gold.
Read more: Biden earmarks huge funds for Palestine and appoints an anti-Israel Ambassador to Iran.
The conscious attempt by Biden administration to go easy on Iran and China will hurt its long-standing allies in the region, like UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia the most. And this will unnecessarily create a worse situation for the USA as it will surely lose the leadership of the region. Joe Biden has lost the track of International Relations and Foreign Policy dynamics. The fact that he is trying to jeopardise the trajectory of the US foreign policy just to please its domestic audience, is itself a disappointment.
Now, this flawed logic is going to cost the USA big time. With Washington going easy on Iran, China is sure to get a stronger hand in the region and the USA will lose its leadership at the same time. It is also going to give wings to Turkey’s Nuclear ambitions and put the long-standing USA’s allies in the region at a vulnerable situation.