BetweenTheLines

By Sameer Arshad Khatlani Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey signed a defence agreement on August 7 in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, stating that an attack against any of the three countries will be regarded as an assault on them all. The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement comes amid growing doubts about the US as a security provider, even as Saudi Arabia signed a civilian nuclear pact with Washington in July. In 1963, the then-Saudi Crown Prince Faisal told US ambassador Parker T Hart that “after Allah, we trust America,” underlining the depth of their relationship.  The Saudi-US ties remain strong, but successive US administrations have sought to reduce their involvement in West Asia.  President Donald Trump has vocally articulated the need for allies across regions to spend more on their defence and take more responsibility. The Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy is categorical in saying the US is stretched and cannot shoulder the responsibility alone amid simultane...

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I t was perhaps no coincidence that on September 4, 2020, an imam at Mecca’s Grand Mosque dwelt on Prophet Mohammed’s kindness to a Jewish neighbour. The reference, days before the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed agreements on September 15, 2020, to normalise ties with Israel, was seen as part of the groundwork for other Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia to follow suit. The thaw in Arab-Israel relations is a culmination of years of behind-the-scenes work that Arab leaders have been hinting at. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in 2018, backed the Israelis’ 'right to have their own land'. Bahrain defended Israeli airstrikes in Syria the same year, saying Israel ' has the right to defend itself .' A year later, Bahraini foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa called Israel a part of the region’s heritage . ALSO READ: Hardline-Reformist Binary Ignores Core Of Iranian Political System Bin Salman ...

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I ran  had valiantly fended off US-backed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s invasion for eight years until July 1988 when Americans downed a civilian aircraft to deal a death blow to the resistance.  All 290 civilians aboard the plane met their watery graves in the Persian Gulf . The tragedy turned out to be the last straw, convincing Tehran that the US was now openly siding with Saddam. The fear coupled with Saddam's use of chemical weapons prompted  Iran  to accept an UN-brokered ceasefire in September 1988.  But Iranians could hardly breathe easy after the end of the 20th century’s longest war that is estimated to have killed around a million. Along with the consequences of the conflict,  Iran  faced crippling American sanctions following the post-revolution seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the captivity of American diplomats. The 444-day hostage crisis has remained etched in the American m...