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Saudi Arabia losing legitimacy, weight in Mideast: Pundit

Sunday, 10 January 2016 6:55 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 10 January 2016 6:56 AM ]

Pakistanis shout slogans during an anti-Riyadh protest in Lahore on January 3, 2016, against the execution of prominent Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities. ©AFP

Press TV has interviewed Hazem Salem, a political activist from Cairo, and Michael Lane with the American Institute for Foreign Policy from Washington to discuss Saudi Arabia’s provocative policies that are fueling tensions in the Middle East.

Salem said the Saudis believe that the American influence in the Middle East is diminishing, and that they are losing Washington’s support; therefore, they are pushing to have a say in the region.

The analyst added that Riyadh-Washington ties have deteriorated since the era of late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a situation that has promoted the kingdom to start dealing with regional issues on its own.

“Saudi Arabia wants to extend its arm into Yemen and elsewhere and to escalate with Iran,” Salem said.

The Saudi regime is worried over Iran’s growing influence, fearing that such a situation could take away the Riyadh regime’s “leverage” both in the region and the world, he added.

Saudi Arabia is stuck and is doing no matter what “just to prove its existence, which in the end is demolishing more and more the Saudi influence and the Saudi weight in the region, even the Saudi legitimacy and acceptance among its neighbors,” Salem concluded.

Lane, for his part, believes the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran is based on a “zero-sum game,” adding that the two sides are competing with each other and have, therefore, no common stance on regional issues.

The analyst also referred to the impact of US-Iran ties on Saudi Arabia’s attitude, saying that the US administration is trying to improve relations with Iran, but the Saudis believe such developments are at their expense and attempt to stop the trend.

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