In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Diako Hosseini referred to the signing of the strategic partnership agreement during the visit of the Chinese president to Saudi Arabia and on the US positions regarding the deepening of relations between Riyadh and Beijing added: The United States is concerned about the increase of China’s influence in different regions of the world, including the Persian Gulf region, and increase in China’s influence in Saudi Arabia can increase China’s activism ability in global competition with the United States and strengthen China’s positions. Certainly, such conditions can have a direct impact on the final result of the competition between China and the United States in the next decade.

He added: Although the United States has no substitute for the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf in terms of enthusiasm and military and security capabilities, the slow change of the Arab countries in cooperation with China, the assessment that the United States is a declining power, and the country’s reluctance to the continuation of its support for the Arab countries of the region has made the conclusion that the Arab countries should create long-term plans for cooperation with China, within the framework of a one-way corridor or outside of it, and this is being strengthened.

The expert on international affairs said: The Arab countries of the region know very well that unlike the last century, the future of their energy relations will be coordinated not with the West, but with Asia, and among Asian countries, China has a special place. These are not issues that the US is unaware of. On the one hand, it has to adapt itself to such conditions and accept that those Arab countries are necessarily eager to cooperate in China’s geo-economic plans for economic reasons, but, on the other hand, it is worried about the consequences of this cooperation, increase in China’s influence and strengthening of its presence in international crossings.

Referring to the remarks of an American official who said that Washington cannot ask Saudi Arabia to choose an option between the United States and China and that the United States has a unique advantage in forming a coalition, building a defense architecture and dealing with threats in the region, and is not concerned about this, Hosseini continued: The Americans will continue to try to assure the Arab countries that despite the fact that this region does not have the high priority of the past in the US foreign policy, but they are still ready to support their traditional allies against foreign threats.

At the same time, he said: To what extent such assurance will be accepted among the Arab countries of the region, there is room for ambiguity and question, but the Americans and especially the Biden administration are trying to send this message to the Arab countries of the region and convince them that their commitments to those countries still remain.

The international affairs analyst emphasized: Now the United States sees this region of the world in a big game; in the past, this region was important because of the US dependence on Persian Gulf oil, but today it has become a part of the big global geostrategic game in competition with China. If the US has not reached this conclusion, it must soon come to the conclusion that they are bound to change their view of this region and its players, including Iran. Iran can play a key balancing role in relation to China’s influence; but as long as the relationship between Iran and the West is still hostile and the US continues its traditional and 20^th century view of Iran, it will not be possible to take advantage of this opportunity.

Hosseini added: These issues are happening while the US traditional allies are turning towards China. Therefore, it is necessary to wait and see whether the United States will realize the importance and necessity of this necessary turn in its attitude in the continuation of its competition with China in this region of the world or not.

He explained about the perspective of US-Saudi relations, adding: According to the official documents of the US, that country does not intend to pay more attention to East Asia by sacrificing obligations in other parts of the world, including in the Persian Gulf region; but the assessment of how the US can bring together conflicting interests and distribution of attention in the world in a balanced way should be left to the future; but Saudi Arabia, at the head of the US important allies in the Arab world, will in any case tend towards China; because it has recognized the fact that the future of the 21^st century will be heavily, if not completely, affected by China’s behavior and interests.

The international affairs expert continued: Saudi Arabia is trying to convey this important message to the US that if it does not pay attention to the interests of Riyadh, this country will not be left without options. On the other hand, the Americans do not have many options against this issue; because if they want to continue confronting Saudi Arabia or choose a punitive method, they have practically opened more space for China. At the same time, if they want to give more concessions to Saudi Arabia to refrain from cooperating with China, it is very unlikely that Riyadh will choose such a strategy, given the entanglement of their growing economic interests.

Hosseini reminded: The Americans do not have many options to change the new strategic environment and will cautiously try to continue the relationship with the Arab countries. But it is not clear that such efforts will achieve the expected result. If the US really has the will to contain China in this region, it should involve other countries in this chess board, and Iran is one of the most important countries. This will not happen if the US continues to consider Iran as its number one threat.