“And young Muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves and their peoples”.
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B’nai B’rith in a statement issued Sunday evening praised Trump for calling on Arab nations to join in the fight against Islamic terrorism and for “challenging the Arab world to unite in confronting Iran – the largest state sponsor of global terror”.
Trump on Saturday signed a $110 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia alongside Salman and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim was the one to announce the donation, saying that the two countries had pledged a combined $100 million donation to the World Bank-based fund. “He is still someone that has targeted us and has not looked at us as an equal part of this country”.
In his remarks, Mr Trump signalled his intention to end engagement with Iran, suggesting that it does not encourage change from inside the country.
Iran and its destabilizing regional role was a major point of agreement at the weekend’s U.S. -Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, and its foreign minister did not like the focus of attention.
And while it’s an exaggeration to say that Barack Obama could have given the speech, it’s notable that Trump never used the term he excoriated his predecessor – and Hillary Clinton – for eschewing. “But I think it’s important that, whatever we call it, we recognise that [extremists] are not religious people”. “Under Obama you had this attempt of the U.S. playing the external balancer in the region”. We believe you’re willing.
Washington’s alliance with the mainly Sunni Muslim countries of the Arab world against Shi’ite Iran is decades old. Iran’s most powerful authority – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – has ruled out normalisation of ties with the United States. This has led the Syrian civil war to become a new venue for Saudi-Iranian rivalry, as Iran is one of the Syrian president’s biggest supporters.
It is to be seen what this presages for the limited cooperation against the Islamic State between the U.S. and Russian Federation in the Syria-Iraq theatre, where Iran is influential against ISIS.
Obama’s outreach to Tehran reflected that reality.
Najib said he was also touched by the warmth showed by King Salman towards him as he did not expect to be feted with sumptuous lunch attended by Saudi Arabia royal families and cabinet members when he had an audience with the monarch yesterday.
He then outlined Iranian conduct including the sponsoring of terrorists and militias across the region, and oppressing its own people. “The Saudis were mostly concerned with the developing USA policy approach to Iran, which they feared would come at their expense”, he stated.
“There is a growing realization among your Arab neighbors that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by Iran”, he said, at a welcome meeting with President Rueven Rivlin.
Mr Rouhani’s powers are limited by those of unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who can veto all policies and has ultimate control of the security forces. “Who can say the region will experience total stability without Iran?” he asked.
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The Riyadh summit showed that the “passivity” of Rouhani’s government “has emboldened the enemies of Iran”, wrote Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of Kayhan, a newspaper closely associated with security hardliners who opposed Rouhani.
