International policy analyst Filipe Pathé Duarte argues that the resumption of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran demonstrates the “pragmatism” of the Saudi crown prince in his attempt to secure a leading role in the Middle East.
In statements to the Lusa news agency, the NOVA Law School academic in Portugal recalled that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, seeks to “isolate” Israel so that, at the same time, the Abraham Accords (signed in 2020 by the Israeli state with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and later with Morocco and Sudan), and it remains to be seen whether the “proxy war” in Yemen will continue or not.
Asked by Lusa about whether the recent agreement between Riyadh and Tehran, sponsored by China and signed on the 6th of this month, is “unnatural”, Pathé Duarte admitted that anything is possible.
“I don’t know if it’s not natural. Bin Salman is an extremely pragmatic leader. We have to really understand the future of this deal. On the one hand, he isolates Israel, on the other hand, he could jeopardize the Abraham Accords and we have yet to think about the effectiveness of this agreement. For that, we have to think about what is happening in Yemen and understand whether or not the proxy war will continue,” he replied.
“In any case, the deal looks like some kind of unnatural deal, but it’s not. Bin Salman is a pragmatist and is trying to further strengthen his position as the leader of the Middle East,” he said.
For Pathé Duarte, the consequences of the resumption of relations between the Saudis and Iranians, in addition to endangering the Abraham Accords and the isolation of Israel, raise another question, which is trying to understand if the Palestinian cause will become “a form of unification of the entire Arab-Muslim world against Israel”.
“In recent years there has been a kind of fading of the Israeli-Palestinian cause precisely because of this rapprochement of the Arab-Islamic states with Israel. [os Acordos de Abraão], progressively isolating Iran. What we have here, eventually, is the result of bin Salman’s pragmatism, and we may witness here a reversal of the dynamic in the Middle East that Israel may suffer from,” he argued.
For the professor and researcher, the Abraham Accords “were a very positive step for Israel because it isolated Iran and unified the Arab-Islamic world, progressively bringing it closer” to Tel Aviv, while “diluting” the Palestinian cause.
“But when there is a fragility in terms of internal politics in Israel, as a rule, what happens is that sectarian violence always arises. Israel? questions.
“But yes, I think that what we are witnessing is an isolation of Israel, having, above all, as a backdrop, more and more, the internal situation of Israel. [cujo atual Governo é o mais à direita da história do país ao integrar parceiros ultraortodoxos e de extrema-direita]who is facing an existential problem,” he said.
For Pathé Duarte, this existential problem involves knowing if Israel really wants to be a secular democratic state or if it wants to be a Jewish state.
“If it wants to be a Jewish state, it will possibly have to rely on more extremist movements in power that, in turn, are a challenge to freedoms, rights and guarantees and to the rule of law itself. facing this problem. And knowing that you are facing this problem, there is immediately a rebalancing at the regional level, with an apparent rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, ”he justified.
“We have to look at the pragmatism of Bin Salman and also look at what is going to happen in Yemen, so that, from there, we can understand if, in fact, there is an agreement and an approach with legs to walk on or if it is simply the result of a contextual moment,” he declared.
Since 2014, Yemen has been embroiled in a conflict between Shiite Houthi rebels, close to Iran, and government forces, supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and including the United Arab Emirates.
Still questioned by Lusa about whether the current internal response from the Israeli government leaves the idea that the executive is on time, Pathé Duarte stressed that it was “difficult to understand”, although he defended that the legitimacy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is being questioned”. . disputed”.
“And if legitimacy is questioned in a rule of law, governments change,” he concluded.
Source: TSF
