As Democratic President Joe Biden has already taken office, he has to deal with challenges in restoring the United States' position in the Middle East, especially as the Arab world and the region have now changed, and Washington is no longer the only active player in the region.
Some of Biden's administration members seemed to be unfolding part of his upcoming policies in the Middle East. Biden's candidate for the State Department, Anthony Blinken, said that the president will not revert the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but believes that the only viable settlement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a "two-state solution."
In 2017, Trump broke apart from the international consensus and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, although the Palestinians are looking to make East Jerusalem the capital of their desired state.
Blinken indicated that Biden would try hard to pursue the "two-state" goal, but acknowledged the difficulties encountered in this matter.
"The president and I personally believe that the only way to guarantee Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state, while giving the Palestinians a state that they are entitled to, is through the two-state solution," Blinken explained to the Senate.
But he added, "Realistically, I think it will be difficult to achieve anything on this level in the short term."
Blinken also announced that the new administration would not revert the controversial decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
On another hand, Blinken pledged to reconsider the decision of outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to designate the Houthis a "terrorist organization."
He also described Turkey as an "alleged strategic partner," indicating the possibility of further sanctions being imposed on it to purchase Russian-made air defense systems.
With regard to Iran, Blinken said that Washington has an "urgent responsibility" to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. It appears that Biden intends to return to the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015, from which Trump withdrew in 2018, which increased tension with Tehran, as well as the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
Biden believes that the policy of his predecessor, Trump, has made Iran closer to possessing a nuclear weapon. But the president-elect insisted that the possibility to return to the nuclear deal is conditional on Tehran returning to all of the commitments it abandoned after Trump withdrew from it.
Iran's ambitions and hopes to lift the sanctions that have crushed its economy collide with retired General Lloyd Austin, Biden's candidate for the Defense Ministry. Austin said during a hearing to discuss the confirmation of his appointment, that Iran poses a threat to US allies in the region and to US forces stationed there. He emphasized that Tehran remains a destabilizing factor in the region.
The statements of Austin may give a lot of optimism to the Gulf states, which seek to stop Iran's interference in the region, especially Syria and Lebanon, and to support and arm the Yemeni Houthi militia.
On the Syrian file, Biden did not have much exposure to the Syrian crisis during his campaign. Expectations here are pided into two parts, the first: that the Biden administration will be working to restore the American role in Syria, especially since Russia's presence in the Mediterranean and the expansion of the Turkish regional influence are a source of concern for Democrats and their allies in Europe.
The second is that Biden's policy towards Damascus probably will be a continuation of Obama's policy, meaning maintaining a very limited military presence in northern Syria to pressure Turkey on the Syrian Kurds and fight the terrorist organization ISIS.
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