U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates Photo: REUTERS From The Telegraph:
America offered assurances to its closest Arab allies on Wednesday that President Barack Obama's overtures towards Iran will not damage their interests.
The leading Arab powers, notably Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are deeply concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions and its rising influence across the Middle East. The Sunni powers rely on America to contain Iran's Shia regime and are concerned about the possible consequences of Mr Obama's conciliatory approach towards the Islamic Republic.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia to reassure them that America will not spring a "grand bargain" with Iran on them without warning.
Read more ....
My Comment: The Arabs are not fools. They now see the U.S. playing hardball on Israel .... a country that Arabs perceive as America's closest ally. If the U.S. is willing to do this to their "closest ally", the Arabs know that they will be treated even worse.
Historically, the Americans have always been very close to the Iranians. In the 1973 OPEC embargo, this relationship got even closer. This changed with the Iranian revolution, and when viewed from a historical perspective, the past 30 years has been an aberration in this relationship. I doubt that it will change overnight to what it once was, but the Arabs have a long memory and they are remembering what U.S. - Iranian relations were like from the 1950s to the late 1970s.
From my point of view .... the U.S. administration is crossing a lot of lines that were never crossed before (both domestically and on the foreign scene) .... the Arabs are noticing this and they have every right to be concerned.