Analysis: Biden's Policy in Middle East Bet. Israel's Hammer, Iran's Anvil

Since his official inauguration on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden has drawn the US foreign toward the Middle East; most notably reconsidering the Iranian nuclear file. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to change his approach before the new US President, who is open to resume talks with Tehran, and intent on changing Washington’s policy in the Middle East in a way different to what it was during the era of Donald Trump. 

The Biden administration has expressed its readiness to rejoin the agreement and start lifting sanctions if Iran returns to fulfill its full obligations stipulated in it, a condition that Tehran has not yet seemed to accept, as it continued to enhance its nuclear activities in the face of the "maximum pressure" campaign launched by Trump against it. 

Arab columnist Mamoun Fendi, in his March 1’s article in Asharq Awsat newspaper, said that the US administration can be pided into three main groups; the White House, the Congress and political groups and influential lobbies. According to Fendi, Biden’s key players are: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA’s Director William J. Burns. 

If we return to Netanyahu who had a green card from Trump to do anything, he jus the first Middle East leader to receive a call from Biden. Unlike former US president’s, the Israeli prime minister waited for more than a month to be contacted. Israeli media reports commented on this call saying that “Netanyahu needs Biden and vice versa.”

The second phone call to a Middle East leader was with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi; however Washington does not seem eager to fix Iraq’s politics, according to a Foreign Policy report published on Feb 26. 

The third call was with Saudi Arabia’s King. "The King stressed in the call with President Biden the deep ties between the two countries and the importance of boosting partnership to serve mutual interests and achieve regional and international security and stability," SPA said in a statement.

The three calls illustrate that Biden’s primary focus in the region is about Iran. Riyadh and Tel Aviv have common concerns regarding the Iranian nuclear and missile activities. As for Iraq, it’s known to everyone the complicated relationship between Tehran and Baghdad. 

Although Biden ended the "honeymoon" between his country and Netanyahu, this does not mean an abandonment of the strategic partnership between US and Israel. In other orders, the new US-Iran relations will have different repercussions on the entire Middle East.