If there is one thing more unexpected than the horror we have been witnessing in Gaza over the last week, it is how Iran and Saudi Arabia are responding to it. Namely, they evidently discussed it over the phone in a historic first.
Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia had a 45-minute conversation Wednesday that ended with them affirming their mutual support for Palestine and working toward military de-escalation and the “need to end the war crimes against Palestine,” as Iranian media put it; as if Hamas was not the aggressor here and committing war crimes of their own.
The Washington Examiner quoted the Saudi press as saying the Prince “stressed the Kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive and just peace that guarantees the Palestinian people’s access to their legitimate rights.”
Knowing Islam’s antipathy towards the Jews (when Shias and Sunnis aren’t fighting each other), a peace deal led by the two major Islamic powers is undoubtedly going to give Israel the short end of the stick, especially when Iran helped fund and plan the attack starting this whole mess in the first place.
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This is despite President Trump normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel with the Abraham Accords. However, China was able to convince Tehran and Riyadh to resume diplomatic relations in March.
Another thing to think about is what other motives the Iranians and the Saudis have to start talking about Israel now. As our own Stephen Green and Not the Bee put it, the Palestinians aren’t thought of very highly by the rest of the Muslim world. Even MSNBC got it right when they said Iran hates the Jewish State more than they want to help the Palestinians, while Saudi Arabia has little to gain from improving their lot (and working with Israel, and by extension, the U.S., is more beneficial for them), despite both countries invoking ummah (Islam as a whole) in their conversation.
So let’s think about this for a minute: Iran and Saudi Arabia have resumed diplomatic relations through a deal worked by China. Nothing between them happened until Hamas attacked Israel, and now they have discussed possibly working together on de-escalating the situation as Israel retaliates. Iran bankrolls Hamas, while Saudi Arabia has cozied up to Israel since the Abraham Accords.
Is something going on here, or am I just reading too much into a 45-minute phone call between the two most powerful rivals in the Middle East?
