The Riyadh Declaration, released at the end of the Arab-Islamic summit on Sunday, emphasized the need to stop the Iranian terrorist threat in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Leaders of 55 Arab and Muslim states, as well as the United States, have called for an end to Iran's support for religious groups and a stop to its expansion into neighboring countries, mainly Syria. Although the declaration did not address mechanisms for implementing these points, it confirms the agreement to provide a force of 34 thousand troops to intervene if necessary against terrorist threats in Syria and Iraq. This implies military intervention against foreign fighters sent by Iran and supporting Iran in Syria.

Politically, the summit sent an extremely strong and clear message to Iran and the Assad regime, since they were the only Muslim countries not invited. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and his American counterpart Tillerson said that these countries were not invited because they are the largest supporters of terrorism. At the opening ceremony of the US-Islamic summit, the king of Saudi Arabia issued his biggest public indictment of Iran, calling Iran "the spearhead of global terrorism." This confirms the fact that the conflict is not moving towards compromise or a settlement. Iran must return to its borders, and must be expelled from the Arab countries it is destroying, and from Syria above all.

© AFP 2017, MANDEL NGAN US President Donald Trump at the US-Islamic World summit. May 21, 2017

Politicians and experts on Syria saw the summit and the “Riyadh declaration” as an important step in eliminating Iran. Although this cannot be done easily or immediately, they have questioned the role of the largest and most dangerous ally of the Assad regime, which has repeatedly saved the Syrian regime from condemnation in international forums and in the Security Council. Could it be the pressure being put on Russia and the international plan to change its current course in Syria?

Syrian journalist Hussein al-Zubi believes that the American-Islamic summit in Riyadh does not clarify any decision on confronting Iran, or at least on its removal.

Context

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia: Russia is scared

Al Modon 05/23/2017

Trump's visit - lots of handshakes, little use

Maariv 05/23/2017

Donald Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia

CNN 05.23.2017 “It is not yet fully clear how the American-Islamic summit will affect the entire Middle East. The peculiarity of the new coalition is that Saudi Arabia will most likely be the leading player here with the full support of the United States, and this alliance may, to a certain extent, contribute to the redrawing of spheres of influence and change the mechanisms of interaction between regional actors.”

Regarding the Russian threat and the mechanisms to resist it, al-Zoubi says the following: “I do not think that at the Riyadh summit any military alliance will be formed to confront the Russians, but a coalition may be created to put pressure on Moscow in one way or another... The issue of Russia’s withdrawal from Syria is related to international concerted efforts, which may ultimately bear fruit in countering Russia’s interests in Syria.”

These are interests that Russia requires the United States to recognize as a condition of any negotiations or agreements on the Syrian issue.

Analysts say that while the move is to forcefully remove Iran from Syria, the Russian obstacle needs political coordination and European-American deals. Perhaps Saudi Arabia itself will facilitate their conclusion with the help of its allies.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

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Common enemies and common vision

The event, which was also attended by the secretaries general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the UN, the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), was held under the telling motto “Together We Prevail.” It included three major summits - between Saudi Arabia and the United States, between the GCC and the United States, and between the United States and the countries of the Islamic world. For United States President Donald Trump, who has never left the country since his January inauguration, the visit to Riyadh marked the beginning of his first foreign tour.

On the sidelines of the summit, its participants discussed issues of global security and stability, and the joint fight against global threats. In particular, the current topic was the situation in the Middle East in the context of the ongoing military operations in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Particularly noteworthy was the organized “five minutes of hatred” against Iran, whose leaders were not present at the event: accusations were made against Tehran of “supporting extremist organizations in the region.” The leaders of Muslim states and the United States expressed unprecedented solidarity and unanimity regarding the creeping threat of international terrorism and extremism, in the face of which they decided to put aside differences and join forces.

What was Trump talking about?

The most anticipated event of the summit, naturally, was the speech of the American president. During the election campaign, Donald Trump's harsh rhetoric towards Muslims caused considerable concern in the Islamic world, but his speech in Riyadh was very restrained and balanced. At the same time, it can hardly be compared with the famous Cairo speech of former US President Barack Obama: in 2009, the American leader extended the hand of friendship to the Islamic world and began another “reset,” and in 2017, Trump spoke about more mundane things and was more categorical in his assessments.

In particular, he called for the creation of a coalition of nations to defeat extremism, but invited Muslims to lead the fight against radicalism themselves. The American president criticized Iran, accusing it of financing terrorists, militants and various extremist groups, while at the same time saying that “Middle Eastern countries should not wait for the United States to solve their problems.”

Trump also made it clear to the Islamic world that the US does not intend to "lecture, tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or who to pray to." Instead, he proposed a partnership based on shared interests and values ​​to achieve a better future for us all, emphasizing the priority of gradual reforms over the tactics of sudden intervention in the region's affairs.

Muslim NATO?

The main results of the summit are reflected in the adopted declaration, which states that the meeting participants reject any attempts to connect the ideology of terrorism with religion and intend to fight terrorism in all its forms, as well as the roots of extremism and the sources of its financing. They also expressed a desire to establish a sustainable partnership, exchanging information about the activities of terrorist groups, the location and movements of militants. To confirm the seriousness of their intentions, the participants announced the establishment of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (GCCEI) with headquarters in Riyadh. He will monitor the activity of terrorist groups in cyberspace, tracking the correspondence of their members, the propaganda of extremism, the recruitment of new activists, as well as correcting the distorted vision of Islam by radicals and strengthening the foundations of traditional and moderate religious teachings.

Another significant document was the memorandum of understanding between the United States and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

However, the most important outcome of the meeting in Riyadh was the support by all participants of Washington’s initiative to create a new military-political alliance of more than 40 Arab and other Muslim states, which should become the supporting structure of the security architecture in the region through “the fight against terrorism and containing Iran.” It is noteworthy that the leadership role in the alliance is assigned to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and even Pakistan will also play a key role in it, and the United States itself is not included in it.

The emerging bloc, which is expected to very soon acquire a charter and a permanent military contingent, has already been dubbed “Arab NATO” by experts, especially Russian ones. The signing of agreements with Riyadh on the supply of American weapons worth $350 billion only intensified the panic among Russian analysts.

What's for us?

From the countries of Central Asia at the summit are the presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Naturally, our region was not among the priority topics on the agenda of the Riyadh meeting. Therefore, for us, this event rather served as a platform to meet face to face with neighbors and partners and discuss issues of mutual interest.

However, observing the progress and results of the Arab-Muslim-American forum, one can highlight a number of key points that seem to be of great importance for the Central Asian states.

1) First of all, US President Donald Trump, despite his aggressive anti-Muslim rhetoric during the election campaign, nevertheless made his first visit as head of state to the Custodian of the Two Noble Shrines, thereby recognizing the importance for American foreign policy of the Islamic world, of which Central Asia is a part . The religious overtones in Trump's tour are clear: from Saudi Arabia he heads to Israel and Palestine, and then to the Vatican, as if demonstrating his determination to find a common language with the three largest religions.

2) The results of the summit in Riyadh will undoubtedly raise the global fight against terrorism and extremism to a new level, but in this case Washington is acting on the principle “saving drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves.” By asking the Muslim world to take the lead in the fight against radicalism, the United States is shifting the main burden onto those countries that actually suffer the most from this threat, while making good money on arms contracts.

3) It is not only the fact of the creation of a new military bloc that is alarming, but also the fact that an alliance with the participation of more than 40 Muslim states is being created against another Muslim state - Iran. Such a development of events could threaten the integrity of the Islamic world, serve to intensify contradictions between its various branches, and increase the likelihood of hostilities. The main beneficiaries of this are the same terrorist groups against whom military operations have been conducted for many years.

4) At the very least, the list of the proposed coalition itself looks controversial. Thus, in the Middle East in the Arab world, the factor of historical rivalry between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, between the latter and Turkey, exists and operates. Attempts to create pan-Arab Sunni military-political formations to stabilize the situation in Syria and Yemen have already failed. It is also unclear whether all members of the new NATO are ready to send their troops to other countries to conduct combat operations.

In general, the summit in Riyadh outlined the contours of the American administration’s approaches to the Near and Middle East, but no revolutionary ideas were voiced at it: it all ended with the creation of new “centers” and “alliances.” Moreover, the lion's share of the costs, both material and human, for the functioning of the formed structures will be borne by the Muslim countries themselves, who are ready to begin military operations against their own brothers. Perhaps this is why peace has not come to the region for more than a century?

The Arab League summit opens in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The heads of 17 countries will attend it. The main topic is the Middle East settlement. The international community calls on the Islamic world to live in peace with Israel.

At today's summit of the League of Arab States in Riyadh, the participating countries hope, if not to accept the so-called Saudi plan, then at least to bring the positions of the parties closer together. According to a document drafted in March 2002 by then-Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, all Arab countries recognize the existence of the State of Israel, but only under certain conditions. To begin with, Israel must withdraw its troops from the territories occupied after 1967 and return Palestinian refugees, and most importantly, recognize an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

In return, Tel Aviv will receive a guarantee of normal relations with the Arab world. All previous attempts to adopt such a plan have failed. But today special guests are expected in Riyadh: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be present at the meeting. The visit to Saudi Arabia was the culmination of the Secretary General's first Middle East tour since taking office. And although according to the plan he was supposed to start it from Egypt, on March 22 Ban Ki-moon unexpectedly arrived in Iraq.

I didn’t like the surprise - the Secretary General was not greeted very warmly. During a joint press conference between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Ban Ki-moon in the Green Zone in Baghdad. He frightened the Secretary General so much that he could not continue his speech. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, on the contrary, looked very confident and calm - apparently, he was used to it. He, as if nothing had happened, continued to tell reporters about the successes achieved by the American army and Iraqi troops in ensuring security in Baghdad. But it seems that the Secretary General was not convinced by his words - on the same day Ban Ki-moon flew to Egypt.

The meeting with the head of the League of Arab States - the most influential organization in the Arab world - was called by many a rehearsal for the summit in Riyadh. The parties discussed in detail all the conflicts in which, according to Guy Moon, the Middle East is drowning, but they still paid special attention to Palestinian-Israeli relations.

“We discussed the current situation in the Middle East and the new Palestinian government of national unity. We agreed that the world community should actively contribute to the establishment of the peace process. I hope that the meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert will allow us to resume this process,” Ban Ki-moon emphasized.

Such a meeting could take place today. Ban Ki-moon's position is very clear: the time for negotiations with the politicians of the radical Hamas group has not yet come, as was demonstrated in the autonomy. The Secretary General met only with the head, Mahmoud Abbas, and two non-Hamas ministers. In addition, according to him, to resume the peace process, not much is required from the autonomy: recognize the state of Israel, comply with previous agreements with it, renounce terror and release, who was kidnapped in the summer on the border with the Gaza Strip. But Israel must also meet halfway: stop the construction and expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and improve the humanitarian situation in the region.

The most important international meeting at the highest level - Vladimir Putin received the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in the Kremlin today. And the results of the negotiations, which are already being called historical, will have far-reaching prospects both on the economic and political fields. The President and the King discussed the most pressing world problems.

Another topic is the situation in the hydrocarbon markets. And a cooperation agreement has already been signed between Gazprom Neft and the Saudi oil company, the largest in the world.

Historical visit. For the first time in the history of bilateral relations, the King of Saudi Arabia comes to Russia. They are received at the highest level, as the status of a state visit suggests.

For the meeting ceremony of the leaders, they chose the state hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace - Andreevsky. Vladimir Putin and Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud warmly greeted each other, then the orchestra performed the national anthems of the two countries. What the Russian president and the Saudi king were talking about when they went to the Green Drawing Room for negotiations in a narrow format was not audible, but it was visible - both were in an excellent mood.

V. Putin: “Our relations have quite a long history. In 1926, 90 years ago, even more, our country, then the Soviet Union, was the first state to recognize the newly formed kingdom created by your father Abdel Aziz Bin Saud. And now we are very pleased to receive you here, Your Majesty. I am confident that your visit will serve as a good impetus for the development of our interstate relations.”

S. Al Saud: “Thank you for the welcome you gave us. We are happy to be in your friendly country. We strive to strengthen bilateral relations in the interests of peace and security, in the interests of the development of the global economy.”

Even before this visit began, it began to be discussed in the Western press. Journalists from the Bloomberg agency called Vladimir Putin the “new master” of the Middle East. America is losing its influence in the region, while Russia, on the contrary, is increasing it, including thanks to its actions in Syria. Because of this, according to Bloomberg analysts, recently almost all leaders of the Middle East countries are “beating the path to the Kremlin,” which manages to conduct a dialogue with all the key players in the region, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, which oppose each other, Israel and Palestine.

The scale of the negotiations is also indicated by such details as, for example, the composition of the delegation from Saudi Arabia. A thousand people came from Riyadh to Moscow. On the way from the airport, they were greeted by welcome posters with the image of the king.

During the visit, as representatives of the hotel business said, all five-star hotels near the Kremlin were almost fully booked. And according to Russian media reports, the king himself was accommodated in a room costing a million rubles per day and measuring 500 square meters. They even specially changed the furniture there: European to Arabic, which the Saudi Arabian protocol officers brought with them.

Interestingly, there are also women in the Kingdom’s delegation. Two representatives of the fair sex - a member of parliament and the editor-in-chief of a Saudi newspaper.

Before holding talks in an expanded format, the leaders first talked face to face, as they say, synchronizing watches on key issues - this, of course, is the situation on the hydrocarbon markets, cooperation in the military-technical sphere, and resolving crises in the Middle East .

V. Putin: “We just held negotiations in a narrow format, very detailed. We talked about bilateral relations and the situation in the region. It was a very meaningful conversation, very substantive and very confidential.”

“We are committed to continuing positive cooperation between our countries to achieve stability in oil markets, which contributes to the growth of the global economy. I would like to invite you to visit Saudi Arabia to continue our consultations on various issues,” said Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

V. Putin: “Your Majesty, thank you very much. Thanks for the invitation. I remember my previous trip to your country and will definitely take advantage of your invitation to visit Saudi Arabia again.”

Most of the meeting took place behind closed doors. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia paid special attention to the future of the oil business and discussed, among other things, the decision taken by OPEC, with the support of, among other things, Russia and Saudi Arabia, to reduce oil production.

“We discussed interaction in the markets in general, and also discussed that these were the right joint actions that had a positive impact on the situation on the market, and discussed the possibilities of further interaction in this area,” the minister said.

Such close cooperation at the highest level, of course, affects primarily the economies of our two countries - in just seven months of 2017, mutual trade turnover increased by approximately 50% compared to the same period last year.

The result of just this one day of Russian-Saudi negotiations is an impressive package of documents - 14 in total. A cooperation program between Rosatom and the King Abdullah Center in the field of the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes was signed. A road map of trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation for the medium term has been formed.

Rosoboronexport agreed on several documents with the Saudi Military Industrial Company: on the purchase and localization of military products, and a contract was signed for the production of Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles and cartridges for various purposes in the Kingdom.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia even emphasized that today relations between the two countries have reached an unprecedented historical level. Cooperation is taking place among all key departments. This serious foreign policy success of Russia in Saudi Arabia in particular and in the Middle East in general certainly opens up additional opportunities for the development of our country.

At a joint briefing of the foreign ministers of the two countries, Sergei Lavrov spoke about the details of the discussion on resolving the Syrian crisis, especially noting the common position - resolving problems in the Middle East is possible only through peaceful dialogue of all interested parties.

“The Russian side supports the efforts that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making to unite the Syrian opposition in order to consolidate negotiations with the government on a constructive platform based on Security Council Resolution 2254. The fight against terrorism implies decisive opposition to extremist ideology. We familiarized our Saudi colleagues with the relevant approaches that are currently being considered in the UN Security Council,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“We are working closely with Russia to unite the Syrian opposition and expand its framework so that the political process can begin in Geneva. We also support the negotiation process in Astana and the need to preserve the territorial integrity and state institutions of the Syrian state,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

The Saudi Arabian Culture Week is also timed to coincide with the historic visit - it is being held in Moscow for the first time. The ministers of culture of the two countries today visited the exhibition at the New Manege; it shows various facets of modern life in Saudi Arabia: from traditional arts to virtual reality. The central themes of the exhibition are the shrines of the Kingdom that are sacred to all Muslims. And as a special gift, representatives of Saudi Arabia presented our side with a portrait of the two leaders.

And in the Kremlin at this time, Vladimir Putin was seeing off the distinguished guest, the heads of state said a warm farewell, and the king once again emphasized that he would look forward to the visit of the Russian leader to Riyadh.

Immediately after the meeting with Vladimir Putin, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The main topic of the negotiations is security in the Middle East.

Tomorrow, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's visit to Russia will continue - he will be received by the Russian Prime Minister.

KUWAIT, May 21. /TASS/. Confronting Iran's policies in the Middle East region and the comprehensive fight against terrorism and extremism became the main topics of the Riyadh summits, which were attended by US President Donald Trump on Sunday during his first visit to Saudi Arabia. After meeting with Saudi leadership on Saturday, concluding an unprecedented defense deal and reaching agreements worth billions of dollars on the second day of his visit, the White House owner managed to enlist support in confronting the ideology of extremism and terrorist financing from fifty Arab and Muslim countries.

Combating terrorist financing

The result of the first meeting between the leaders of the Arabian monarchies and the US President was an agreement to create a joint Center for Combating the Financing of Terrorism. The scope of the tasks of this structure will include “identifying information about the financial networks of extremists,” “coordinating efforts to eliminate them,” as well as “supporting countries in the region that need assistance in building capacity to counter the financing of terrorism.” The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the First Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef Al Saud, and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The document signing ceremony took place in the presence of Trump and Arabian leaders at the end of the US-GCC summit (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia).

Terrorism and religion

The main result of Trump’s second day in the kingdom was the declaration on the results of the Arab-Islamic-American summit. The document states that the meeting participants reject any attempts to connect the ideology of terrorism with religion and intend to fight terrorism in all its forms, as well as the roots of extremism and the sources of its financing. They advocate the establishment of a sustainable partnership, the exchange of information about the activities of terrorist groups, the location and movements of militants.

As expected, participants in the summit chaired by Trump and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud rejected Iran's policies "aimed at supporting extremist organizations in the region." Support is noted for the Yemeni government and the Riyadh-led Arabian coalition, which is on the side of the Yemeni authorities against the Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement, named terrorist in the declaration.

A decision was also made to coordinate actions and harmonize approaches at the highest level. Each country participating in the summit in the Saudi capital will create a special structure that will monitor the implementation of the declaration.

As a result of the Arab-Islamic-American summit, the heads of state and government of the 55 countries that took part in the Riyadh meeting welcomed the formation of a military contingent of 34 thousand people to support the fight against terrorists in Iraq and Syria. They highly appreciated the operation of the international anti-terrorism coalition led by the United States in Syria and Iraq and expressed their readiness to provide any support to these efforts. There was also information about an agreement to form a “Middle Eastern coalition” with headquarters in Riyadh by 2018, but the composition of the countries that will join the alliance will be known only next year.

Trump's keynote speech

The American leader delivered a keynote speech at the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh, in which he touched on the main challenges that, from his point of view, the Middle East region is now facing. The US President also outlined in general how the current administration intends to act in the Middle East.

The central theme of the speech by the owner of the White House was the fight against terrorism in the countries of the region, as well as the efforts that the world community needs to make to eradicate this phenomenon. “Our (US) goal is to form a coalition of peoples who share a common goal - to eradicate terrorism and give our children hope for the future,” the American leader said. He also called for “cutting off the financial channels that allow the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation - TASS) to sell oil and pay salaries to its fighters.” At the same time, Trump emphasized that “countries with predominantly Muslim populations must lead the fight against radicalization,” and noted that “Muslim countries must demonstrate a desire to take on responsibilities” in confronting extremists.

"Iran supplies weapons and trains militants who spread destruction and chaos. The Iranian regime is responsible for the instability that the region faces in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and apparently Syria. Until the Iranian regime expresses its intention to be a partner for (establishing) world, all countries and peoples must jointly isolate Iran,” the American president said.

"(Syrian President Bashar) Assad, with the support of Iran, committed unspeakable crimes, and the United States took decisive action in response to the Assad regime's use of prohibited chemical weapons, firing 59 missiles at the Syrian airfield from which the attack was launched," Trump said. “Responsible nations must work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria, end IS, and restore stability in the region as quickly as possible,” the US President said.

Trump also made it clear to summit participants that the United States does not intend to “lecture, tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or who to pray to.” "Instead, we propose a partnership based on shared interests and values ​​to achieve a better future for us all," he added.

The head of the American administration emphasized that he supports gradual reforms, and not tactics of sudden intervention in the affairs of the region. "We stand on the principles of realism, based on shared values ​​and mutual interests... Our partnerships will promote security through stability, not through radical destruction. We will make decisions based on real developments, not rigid ideology, and whenever possible We will seek gradual reform, not sudden intervention," Trump said.