US envoy Barrack says Washington is moving away from its Middle East security-guarantor role but 'not leaving'

The United States is moving away from its role as the Middle East’s security guarantor but is not withdrawing from the region, US envoy Tom Barrack said on Tuesday 20 October at the Global Security Forum in Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera and Al-Monitor reported. Barrack is the US ambassador to Turkey and a special envoy for Syria.

Asked in an interview with Al Jazeera whether the bargain linking Gulf oil supplies to US security guarantees had ended, Barrack said: “I think it hasn’t ended. It’s transitioning.” He added: “Owning doesn’t work. Controlling hasn’t worked … So the bargain is not to own but to tend. Not to leave. We’re not leaving.” Referring to past US interventions in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, he said: “Every time we try and intervene and change the person or the regime, it seems to have been a mistake.”

On Saudi Arabia’s fight with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, Barrack said President Donald Trump supports Riyadh and would supply the logistical backing it needs, but that “America getting involved in a ground, kinetic battle somewhere else seems fruitless”, Al-Monitor reported.

On Iran, he said deep mistrust between Washington and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards remained a barrier despite mediation by Qatar, Oman, Switzerland and Pakistan, and that a path forward should begin with a ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing pressure on the Iranian people, according to Al-Monitor.

At the same forum, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said US-Iran mediation was continuing; see our earlier report. See also: UK to fly RAF Typhoon patrols over Saudi Arabia.