Iranian Official Heads to Saudi Arabia as Israel Postpones U.S. Meeting

by · NY Times

Iranian Official Heads to Saudi Arabia as Israel Postpones U.S. Meeting

The Biden administration is dealing with complex dynamics in the Middle East as it tries to keep conflicts involving Israel from escalating further.

  • Share full article
  • 0
Destruction in Hod Hasharon, Israel, last week after an Iranian missile attack.
Credit...Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Ben Hubbard

Reporting from Istanbul

As the Middle East remains on edge in anticipation of a possible retaliatory attack by Israel on Iran, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at preventing further escalation in the region’s wars.

Another important diplomatic meeting that had been set for Wednesday will not happen: Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, was supposed to go to Washington to discuss the situation in the Middle East with U.S. officials. But Mr. Gallant said on Wednesday that he had delayed the visit at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked him to postpone the trip until after he had spoken to President Biden.

The fate of the two visits highlighted the complicated regional dynamics the Biden administration must navigate as it seeks to calm the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and prevent the outbreak of a third, between Israel and Iran.

The postponement of Mr. Gallant’s trip comes amid heightened tensions between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct of its wars in Gaza and Lebanon and discussions between the two governments about how Israel should retaliate for Iran’s missile barrage last week.

Since the war in Gaza began a year ago with a surprise Hamas-led attack on Israel, Mr. Biden has repeatedly vowed to support Israel while also working to broker cease-fires and steer Israel away from moves that the United States fears could cause more civilian deaths and suffering — or increase the chances of violence spreading to the broader region.

But Israel’s leaders have often overridden the White House’s guidance and have recently escalated their military offensives, striking Hezbollah in Lebanon, assassinating many of its leaders and sending ground troops into the country’s south.

More recently, discussions between the United States and Israel have focused on Israel’s response to Iran’s firing of roughly 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last Tuesday in response to the Israeli assassinations of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, two of Iran’s proxy forces in the region.

Mr. Gallant had been expected in Washington on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s planning with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

Further complicating relations between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu are revelations in a new book by the veteran journalist Bob Woodward that Mr. Biden in private had grown increasingly frustrated with Mr. Netanyahu over the past year, sometimes reacting explosively to Israeli moves. At one point, according to Mr. Woodward, he asked Mr. Netanyahu about the war in Gaza: “What is your strategy, man?”

On the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel this week, Mr. Biden called President Isaac Herzog to “express his deep condolences to the people of Israel,” according to a White House statement. He did not call Mr. Netanyahu.

The visit by Mr. Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday showcased a more neutral approach to the region’s troubles among Gulf Arab nations, some of the United States’ other closest partners in the Middle East.

In Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Mr. Araghchi met with the Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan. Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that Mr. Araghchi’s regional tour sought to end “Israeli crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon. He met with top Lebanese officials in Beirut on Friday and with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in Damascus on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have a long history of bitter rivalry but reached a new accord in March 2023 that reduced tensions in the Persian Gulf and opened the door to high-level diplomatic contacts like Wednesday’s meeting.

Senior officials from other close U.S. allies, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates — both of which also recently established diplomatic relations with Israel — have also maintained contact or attended events with Iranian leaders recently, making it clear that they do not plan to take sides in a direct conflict between Israel and Iran.

Our Coverage of the Middle East Crisis