(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Well, here's a little background that's been missing from the Xi peacemaker story [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-20 It appears Xi Jinping had a lot of help in closing the Saudi-Iran peace deal Oman looks to raise profile in Asia after helping Saudi Arabia and Iran bury the hatchet Published: 3:00pm, 16 Apr, 2023 The oil-heavy nation is seeking to ‘capitalise diplomatically and economically’ on its recent success as an intermediary between Riyadh and Tehran, analysts say It’s already involved in Yemen peace negotiations and is signing energy deals, some of them green, with Asian partners including China, Japan, Thailand A low profile Indian Ocean nation, Oman has for decades maintained its neutrality in the Middle East’s manifold political disputes and conflicts. Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, leader since early 2020, worked closely with Iraq and Kuwait to end a seven-year suspension of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran, formally announced last week as part of a deal brokered by China. Abdullah Baabood, Director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University Oman’s historical relationship with Iran, dating back to the era of the Iranian Pahlavi dynasty, sets it apart from other GCC members. Since the Arab Spring, Oman and Iran have also developed close economic, energy, and cultural ties Under Sultan Qaboos, Oman’s foreign policy strategy has been to maintain equilibrium between major powers in the Middle East, avoiding conflict and interference in other states’ domestic affairs, while offering to act as a mediator in regional disputes and stressing the need for dialogue. ...Muscat sponsored secretive ceasefire talks between Tehran and Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War and recently attempted to ease the tension between the US and Iran.[19] Prior to 2013, Muscat acted as a go-between for the parties in, and a host for, the secret talks that led to the Iranian nuclear deal. Qatar, Oman, and, to a lesser extent, Kuwait are increasingly under pressure from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, and the United States to reduce their political and economic relationships with Tehran. Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait therefore hope that the intra-GCC crisis and the dispute over the nuclear agreement will end soon, preventing an even more destabilising regional confrontation between Iran and an alliance of the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. In this way, they will be able to revert to their normal policies of strategic hedging and balancing while maintaining their independence. Xi’s idea of diplomacy is to use trade deals as rewards for acquiescing to China’s diplomatic preferences. We have witnessed a flurry of activity since Xi announced his 12 point peace plan. The first being the Saudi Arabia and Iran deal. It turns out that the deal is the result of Iraq under extreme pressure from Iran to denounce Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman who were under pressure from Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US to isolate Iran, were holding talks among themselves and with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ease tensions in the region and improve relations among the six states bordering the Gulf. The local negotiations continued for two years before China’s involvement, the obstacle to an agreement was the Saudis' insistence on Iran exiting Yemen prior to reestablishing relations. China used its long-standing relationship with the Saudis to convince them to negotiate the end to hostilities in Yemen after reestablishing relations with Iran. The inferred incentive for the three countries to resolve the Saudi-Iran feud and unite the region was to reduce US leverage in the area. “We cannot get rid of them, and they can’t get rid of us.” Based on this logic, Saudi Arabia is relying on regulated coexistence in the Gulf and a mix of competition and containment in Syria and Iraq. What is increasingly clear is that China decided that presenting Xi as a peacemaker, as opposed to Biden as the war hawk, was a wining strategy to escape the US accusations of China supplying arms to Russia. The attention from jumping into the Ukraine War dominated headlines also opened doors that would present opportunities for some much-needed trade deals. China’s solution was to craft a strong message of opening up its economic and regulatory policies such that new agreements would be even more economically friendly to its trade partners. China also wooed Saudi Arabia into the Saudi-Iran deal by offering them a ten percent interest in one of China’s major chemical companies. Then Xi invited a myriad of world leaders to China individually or in regional gatherings to discuss his peace proposals and enticing trade proposals of interest to them, with great success on China’s behalf. So, Xi the peacemaker has not called President Zelensky because he has no plan for ending the conflict in Ukraine. In the interim, China is reaping an enormous trade bonus from the charade, as well as creating image and chaotic relations with US European allies for Biden. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/20/2164810/-Well-here-s-a-little-background-that-s-been-missing-from-the-Xi-peacemaker-story Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/