PanOrient News | Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia could lead to a ‘new Middle East,’ Sankei

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Diplomacy

Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia could lead to a ‘new Middle East,’ Sankei

Friday, May 16, 2025

(SPA)

PanOrient News

TOKYO: US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia “marked the beginning of a ‘golden age’ of relations between the two countries,” NAKAGAWA Koichi of the Japan Institute of International Affairs said in an interview with Sankei newspaper.

Referring to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the “leader of the Arab world,” Nakagawa suggested Trump’s visit gives the Crown Prince an opportunity to promote a “new Middle East.” Trump, he says, wants Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and if this happens “the power balance in the Middle East is likely to shift significantly.”

Saudi Arabia signed a $142 billion deal for defense equipment during Trump’s trip, and this is seen as “a check against Iran. However, Nakagawa warns that if Russia supports Iran, this could initiate a proxy war in the Middle East between the two superpowers.

Nakagawa believes Trump is trying to bring stability to the Middle East and says his visit to the region could be seen “as a steppingstone to a nuclear agreement with Iran.” If this doesn’t happen, he says, “it would not be surprising if Israel urges the US to attack Iran.”

However, Trump’s move to support the interim government in Syria suggests that he is looking for peace and stability in the region, Nakagawa says, but warns that “if US rule is imposed as in Iraq in the past, Syria will become a quagmire.”