Allies? Israel, Saudis Move to Preempt Trump Bid for Iran Talks

As 21WIRE reported previously this week, the mere presence of Iran at the G7 has rattled Neocon hawks in Washington and Tel Aviv, and for obvious reasons. Any move towards bilateral talks between the US and Iran threatens to upend the regional ambitions of both the Jewish State and the Wahhabi Kingdom.

While Israel’s general pro-war, pro-destabilization agenda is blatantly obvious right now, Saudi Arabia is negotiating its position in the margins, avoiding any superfluous attention which might feed into an already growing international opposition block against it.

Even sidelines talk of détente has been enough to prompt Riyadh to dispatch its top emissary to Washington in order to try to persuade the US President to back away from any form of diplomatic communications with Iran. In other words: maintain the status quo – the arch of tension in the Middle East.

Are these two countries really acting as America’s allies?

Antiwar.com reports…

President Trump has raised the possibility of talking with Iran, and there continues to be a lot of speculation about the possibility, particularly after reports in the Israeli press about how seriously concerned Israel is about a Trump-Iran negotiation.

Trump has raised the possibility of such talks before, and with Iran wanting sanctions relief, while Trump insists Iran will get nothing, it’s unlikely anything will come of it. Still it has scrambled a lot of anti-diplomacy efforts.

Israel is a clear opponent of diplomacy with Iran, and would be in a rough position after praising Trump to the moon if he started such talks. They’re hardly alone, however, as the Saudi Crown Prince has dispatched his younger brother to DC this week.

Deputy DM Khalid bin Salman is being sent to the US specifically to express “common concerns” between the US and Saudis about Iran, and it seems likely that a big part will be trying to sell the US on continuing to spurn diplomacy.

At the G7, Trump likely heard broad support from other attendees for diplomacy, and while talks aren’t likely to spring out of thin air, it seems clear that these other nations are going to line up and try to sway the balance back to its traditional hostility to Iran.