Pompeo’s visit to Saudi Arabia is deference to Israel's foreign policy: Scholar

“The visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia is another form of deference to Israel's foreign policy rather than staking one out that promotes the interest of the United States,” says an American academic and analyst.

James Fetzer, a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting Pompeo’s visit to Saudi Arabia where he has repeated trumped-up "Iran threat" amid US push to sell more arms to Riyadh.

Pompeo met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed shared security interests in the Persian Gulf and the alleged Iran threats.

He "assured the Crown Prince that the United States stands with Saudi Arabia in the face of these threats, as reflected in our greater military presence in Saudi Arabia," US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Pompeo also visited Sultan Air Base near the Saudi capital Riyadh, where some 2,500 US troops have been stationed since last summer.

Pompeo drums up 'Iran threat' on visit to Saudi Arabia

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeated trumped-up "Iran threat" on a visit to Saudi Arabia amid US push to sell more arms to Riyadh, which is America

Fetzer said, “Saudi Arabia was financially involved in supporting 911 which was orchestrated by the CIA, neocons and the Department of Defense and Israel to draw the United States into the Middle East to take out the moderate Arab states that served as a counterbalanced Israel's domination of the entire region, and eventually to confront the Persian nation of Iran.”

“Saudi Arabia has also displayed its uncivilized conduct by the brutal murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey which was clearly the responsibility of the Crown Prince and by his brutal war in Yemen against the Houthis who want to retake control of the government and restore democracy where I agree with a Grand Mufti of Yemen who observed that there will be no real change in the region until Muslims free themselves from the yoke of the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates,” he stated.

“Now Iran has a very powerful case to make against the United States for the commission of war crimes, on the one hand, by virtue of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani who was the master of counter-terrorism in bringing together disparate forces to defeat ISIS, Daesh, which had been created by the United States, and also was a political leader of Iran in violation of the prohibitions against preemptive attacks unless you have permission of the Security Council, or there's an imminent threat. But more importantly, Iran is being subjected to collective punishment in the forms of sanctions that are precluded by Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which was dedicated to the protection of civilians in time of war,” he noted.  

“Iran must carry their case to the UN Security Council, where the Geneva Conventions have passed into the body of customary international law, making them binding on all nations when engaged in armed conflicts to gain the moral support of the international community, which Iran fully deserves and is entitled to receive from that august body,” he concluded.

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