Biden: U.S. will remain active partner in Middle East not to leave vacuum for China and Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States would remain an active, engaged partner in the Middle East and urged leaders gathered at an Arab summit to see human rights as a powerful force of economic and social change.

"The United States is invested in building a positive future of the region, in partnership with all of you - and the United States is not going anywhere," Biden told the Arab leaders in a speech to kick off the summit.
"We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran," Biden stressed.

Biden is seeking to start a new chapter in U.S. involvement in the Middle East, hoping to move past U.S. military conflicts and instead push for a region that respects individual nations' domestic affairs but seeks economic integration and shared defences amid concerns over Iran.

Biden, on his first Middle East trip as president, has focused on Saturday's planned summit with six Gulf states and Egypt, Jordan and Iraq while downplaying a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

That encounter has drawn criticism in the United States over human rights abuses.

US PEACEKEEPERS TO LEAVE TWO RED SEA ISLANDS THIS YEAR

Biden said his country's peacekeepers will leave the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir later this year.

Biden made the statement during his meeting late Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah.

The US president is currently visiting the oil-rich kingdom on the last stop of his regional tour that took him to Israel and the West Bank.

According to the state news agency SPA, Biden and bin Salman discussed aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries as well as challenges on the regional and international arenas, without providing further details.

In April 2016, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed a border demarcation agreement by which sovereignty over the two islands were transferred to Saudi Arabia.

International peacekeeping forces were stationed on the two Islands following the signing of the Camp David peace accord between Egypt and Israel in 1979.

UNITED STATES AND SAUDI ARABIA CALL FOR DETERRING IRAN'S INTERFERENCE

The United States and Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for deterring Iran's interference in the region and preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"President Biden strongly affirmed the United States' continued commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia's security and territorial defense," said a joint statement following Biden's meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The statement affirmed US commitment to allowing Riyadh "to obtain necessary capabilities to defend its people and territory against external threats."

According to the statement, both countries stressed "the importance of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."

At several occasions, Iran vehemently denied the accusations of interference in the affairs of the region's countries.

Biden is currently visiting Saudi Arabia at the last stop of his first regional tour since taking office last year. His tour included Israel and the West Bank.

BIDEN: US WILL NOT TOLERATE THREATS TO MIDDLE EAST SHIPPING LANES

The United States wants to better protect international shipping in the Middle East, according to US President Joe Biden.
"The United States will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation through the Middle East," Biden said at the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The remarks were a clear reference to Iran, which arch-enemy Saudi Arabia, among others, sees as a threat.
The free movement of goods, including through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz off Iran are a "lifeblood," he said.
The US would not tolerate efforts by any country to dominate other states in the region, he added.