MHMarkets:US President Biden wraps up first Middle East trip

 U.S. President Joe Biden ended his first trip to the Middle East and reaffirmed U.S. influence. However, it is difficult to dispel the controversy over the image of him “fist-banging” with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). A major background of Biden's trip is the Russian-Ukrainian war. In order to fight the warmonger Russia, the United States is seeking to revive the pro-American Arab camp, just like the United States has revived NATO. Another major reason is the energy shortage caused by the war in Ukraine, and the price of crude oil has soared. Biden visited the Gulf monarchies to try to persuade Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries to increase oil production, hoping to calm oil prices and inflation. The energy challenge for Biden and the European allies that have joined the U.S. in supporting Ukraine is enormous.

Biden's itinerary includes only two countries, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The visit comes weeks after Israel said it was working with regional partners to build a U.S.-led air defense alliance. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told the Knesset he hoped the plan would be “a step forward” during Biden's visit to the region.

Saudi Arabia has been pressuring the United States for security guarantees to contain Iran if nuclear talks fail. The final round of talks in Doha two weeks ago stalled, with the U.S. saying Iran had added unrelated demands to the negotiating table.

Earlier on Friday, just hours before Biden's arrival, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to all airlines, a step toward normalizing ties with Iran's sworn enemy Israel. EL AL was previously banned from entering Saudi airspace on most flights.

Last month, U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation to create an integrated air defense system to strengthen cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including countries that Biden will meet in Saudi Arabia this week. The defense system is designed to protect these countries from Iran. Biden, who will meet Jordan's King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, said this month that he favors joining the Middle East Pact with like-minded countries,

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