24 Elul 5781 – September 1, 2021
“It is said that men’s choices indicate his state of mind, and with this point of view we should view Biden’s appointment of Robert ‘Rob’ Malley to head the Iranian negotiations delegation—a man who is very enthusiastic about the agreement with Iran, and his team reflects it,” Saudi Mishary Al-Dhaid wrote on Wednesday in Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London and noted for its support of the Saudi government (شابيرو الأميركي «لطيف» مع إيران وملّطف مع إسرائيل).
Malley’s team now includes top advisor and former ambassador to Israel during most of the Obama years Dan Shapiro, notes Al-Dhaid, adding based on news reports that one of Shapiro’s main tasks as an advisor will be to participate in talks with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Office as well as the Foreign and Defense Ministries in Israel, “to enhance coordination and create the possibility of a more friendly dialogue between the two sides on Iran.”
“Notice the dangerous task entrusted to this American diplomat – to soften the atmosphere between the Khomeinists in Tehran and Tel Aviv,” the Saudi pundit commented. “Shapiro has previously commented on the conditions set by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Iran when the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal, saying that they were ‘unachievable because to be implemented would require a fundamental change of the Iranian regime.”
“Today, in the negotiations between Rob Malley’s team and the Iranian team, beyond the original Iranian intransigence on the arrangements and controls of the nuclear issue, another topic greatly concerns us, Iran’s neighbors: is the ballistic missile program and Tehran’s aggressive regional policy—which are among the controversial topics Iran won’t negotiate,” Al-Dhaid stressed.
“What is left then?” he asks, referring to Shapiro’s statement that for Tehran to respond to these added conditions would require a profound change in the structure of the regime.
“If the structure and identity of the Iranian regime is based—besides its nuclear program—on exporting revolution and chaos and manipulating the fabric of Arab societies through sectarian and political penetrations, as happened and is happening in Arab countries… Are Arabs required to coexist with Iranian evil, and what concerns the West only is juts the nuclear issue ?!” he protests, and concludes: “Men’s choices indicate his state of mind… and their intentions”
Content retrieved from: https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/saudis-suspicious-of-dan-shapiros-role-in-iran-talks/2021/09/01/.