Arab states are seeking common ground on Iran, prompting questions about whether US President DonaldTrump is facilitating a recalibration of regional power dynamics. Assoc Prof Saeed Khan from Wayne State University weighs in on the matter.
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00:00Now, we are also seeing Arab states trying to find common ground on Iran.
00:05Is Donald Trump facilitating a recalibration of regional power dynamics, or is this just a momentary convergence of interest?
00:13We ask that to our expert associate professor, Said Han.
00:18I don't think it's a momentary convergence of interest.
00:21And I also wouldn't typecast it as being something that the United States is chiefly or primarily responsible for.
00:31We saw last year, as a matter of fact, that it was, in fact, China that was able to parlay a rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran, which then created the detente that we see today.
00:45In many ways, and as it seems to be the case with the United States of late in the Middle East, it is a day late and a dollar short, so to speak, when it comes to many of the more momentous occasions and developments in the region.
01:03And quite frankly, were it not for President Trump's financial ambitions, arguably, it's difficult to see whether or not there would be much of a change in the status quo for the United States in the region.
01:18Having said that, though, I think it is still a net positive, despite the rather troubling, perhaps motivations for Trump principally to be involved, that there is a benefit of the United States not only engaging, but also from what President Trump's rhetoric has been rather positive in changing the status quo, particularly when it comes to Iran.