RIYADH: US President Donald Trump’s decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem met with a wave of disapproval on Thursday with Saudis across the society condemning the move.
The president made the announcement on Wednesday, reversing US policy of several decades as well as going against the UN consensus of remaining neutral on Jerusalem’s status.
Condemning the unilateral move, Mohammed Alkhunaizi, a senior member of the Shoura Council, told Arab News on Thursday: “We condemn such an illegal decision, this is not acceptable.”
“We in the Kingdom will not accept this, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is one of the holiest places in Islam and has a very high place among all Arabs,” he said.
Majed Abdullah Al-Hedayan, a Saudi analyst and senior legal consultant, told Arab News: “Throughout its history, Jerusalem has been revered by the followers of three religions — Jews, Christians and Muslims — it houses the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter of the Old City, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall considered holy by the Jews, how can it be declared capital of Israel in this way, which is generating a storm of outrage with leaders from both the Muslim world as well as from the wider international community criticizing the move.”
He said: “Characterized by many economic activities such as tourism (especially religious), industry, trade and agriculture, Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, but the international community did not recognize it as part of Israel.”
Al-Hedayan said: “This is a severe provocation to Muslims all over the world. This move could lead to bloodshed and increase instability in the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), reaffirmed the Kingdom’s permanent support for the State of Palestine with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital, asserting the high place for Al-Quds for Arabs throughout the ages.
His remarks came during his chairmanship of the Saudi delegation to the 20th session of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, which started on Wednesday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League, SPA reported.
Abdullah Inayat, media relations director at W7 communications, described the move as unwarranted.
He added that such move will only derail the peace process.
Al-Quds ‘has a very high place among all Arabs’
Al-Quds ‘has a very high place among all Arabs’
US presses missile issue as new Iran talks to open in Geneva
- New round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region
- The dispute between the countries mostly revolves around Iran’s nuclear program
GENEVA: The United States and Iran are set to hold indirect talks in Switzerland on Thursday aiming to strike a deal to avert fresh conflict and bring an end to weeks of threats.
The new round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region and President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if a deal is not reached.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Iran of “pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions.”
He also claimed Tehran had “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
The Iranian foreign ministry called these claims “big lies.”
The maximum range of Iran’s missiles is 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) according to what Tehran has publicly disclosed. However the US Congressional Research Service estimates they top out at about 3,000 kilometers — less than a third of the distance to the continental United States.
The dispute between the countries mostly revolves around Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb but Tehran insists is peaceful.
However the US has also been pushing to discuss Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as Tehran’s support for armed groups hostile toward Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran must also negotiate on its missile program, calling Tehran’s refusal to discuss ballistic weapons “a big, big problem” on the eve of the talks.
He followed up by saying “the president wants diplomatic solutions.”
Iran has taken anything beyond the nuclear issue off the negotiating table and has demanded that the US sanctions crippling its economy be part of any agreement.
‘Neither war nor peace’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday he had a “favorable outlook for the negotiations” that could finally “move beyond this ‘neither war nor peace’ situation.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the Iranian delegation at the talks, has called them “a historic opportunity,” adding that a deal was “within reach.”
In a foreign ministry statement that followed a meeting with his Oman counterpart, Araghchi said the success of the US negotiations depend “on the seriousness of the other side and its avoidance of contradictory behavior and positions.”
The US will be represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
The two countries held talks earlier this month in Oman, which is mediating the negotiations, then gathered for a second round in Geneva last week.
A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.
In January, fresh tensions between the US and Iran emerged after Tehran engaged in a bloody crackdown on widespread protests that have posed one of the greatest challenges to the Islamic republic since its inception.
Trump has threatened several times to intervene to “help” the Iranian people.
Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that “the region seems to expect a war at this point.”
In January, there was “a big push by a number of Middle Eastern states to convince the US not to” strike Iran.
“But there’s a lot of apprehension at this point, because the expectation is that this time” a war would be “bigger” than the one in June.
Tehran residents who spoke to AFP were divided as to whether there would be renewed conflict.
Homemaker Tayebeh noted that Trump had “said that war would be very bad for Iran.”
“There would be famine and people would suffer a lot. People are suffering now, but at least with war, our fate might be clear,” the 60-year-old said.
