The Turkish assault on north-east Syria is a disaster for the region, according to the new Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, The Guardian informs.
The ambassador also claimed his country had much more to lose than Iran from a conflict between the two countries and wanted to behave as “the adults in the room” by not escalating tensions with Tehran. He said Saudi Arabia would have further to fall if a conflict took place.
Breaking with the normal Saudi diplomatic silence in the UK, the ambassador, speaking at the Royal United Services Institute defence thinktank, said: “The Turkish assault is creating chaos. The last thing we need is another front of chaos in the region and I think we just got it.”
Asked about Trump’s apparent sanctioning of the invasion last week, he said: “We are concerned, no question. What is happening in Syria with Turkey and the pulling out the troops does not give one incredible confidence.”
He pointed to the U.S. decision to send troops and air defences to Saudi as a sign of the continuing U.S. commitment to the Middle East, but he warned, in a reference to Saudi Arabia’s rival Iran: “Who has benefited from every single disaster in the Middle East in the past 10 years ? It ain’t Saudi Arabia, for sure.”
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