Saudi oil can help thwart Iran

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial

SAUDI ARABIA has been an awkward partner for the United States because of its undemocratic political system, oppressive treatment of women, and financing of fundamentalist Islamic schools in other countries. But despite their differences, these two unlikely partners have joint interests that are hardly trivial. When Saudi King Abdullah visited the White House this week, the outlines of what should be a common agenda became clear.

Discussing Iran’s nuclear program was the Saudi monarch’s highest priority. He reportedly expressed skepticism that economic sanctions will dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons and suggested that “alternative measures’’ should be considered. However, Saudi officials have consistently opposed any military attack on Iranian nuclear sites. A war in the Gulf would be dangerous for the Saudi kingdom.

President Obama should make it clear to King Abdullah that the best way for the Saudis to reduce the chance of war and limit the influence of Iran would be to increase their own oil production. That would drive down the value of Iranian crude and make the new economic sanctions sting. At the same time, Obama should reassure the Saudis that if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would be protected under a US defense umbrella.

On two other issues, Obama ought to heed the Saudi view. To keep Iran from posing as champion of the Palestinian cause, Obama should push ever harder to bring Israel and the Palestinian Authority into direct negotiations. And he should take the Saudis’ advice to help foster an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement in order to pry Syria away from Iran.

When it comes to Iraq, the Saudis have a well-founded worry that the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will grow closer to Iran. To best counter that influence, Obama should be pressing the Saudis to send an ambassador to Baghdad and to crack down on private Saudi funding for extremist Sunni groups in Iraq.

More generally, both Obama and Abdullah have a responsibility to let their citizens know about the benefits of US-Saudi cooperation. The better that the two nations’ half-veiled partnership is understood, the more likely it is that a successor to the 86-year-old king will want to preserve it.