US Defense Secretary Speaks with Saudi, Qatari Counterparts. as Bahrain’s National Security Advisor Visits Washington
The talks suggest close ties between the Trump administration and the Gulf states. They were held as Marco Rubio began his first trip to the Middle East as America’s top diplomat.
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24 ) - On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense, Khalid bin Salman, and with Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani.
Those discussions followed meetings on Thursday which Bahrain’s National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa held at the White House and the Pentagon.
They suggest close ties between the Trump administration and the Gulf states. They were held as Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his first trip to the Middle East in that capacity.
The U.S. diplomacy involves three issues: 1) Plans for a meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war in Ukraine; 2) the war in Gaza; and 3) countering aggression from Iran and its proxies against the Gulf states.
Hegseth’s Discussions with Saudi Counterpart
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Saudi Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman held an introductory call today to reaffirm the critical defense partnership between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Pentagon read-out of their telephone discussion said.
“The Secretary welcomed Saudi Arabia’s contributions to regional security and continued collaboration on shared challenges,” it added.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and they would meet soon, with their first encounter likely to be in Saudi Arabia.
Read More: Trump: Saudi Arabia Will Likely Host First Meeting with Putin
Indeed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Saudi Arabia to meet with Russian officials to prepare for the U.S.-Russian diplomacy, Rep. Mike McCaul (R, Texas) has told Reuters.
McCaul added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would also be invited to the U.S.-Russian summit "to finally bring peace and end this conflict.” Reuters reported.
Rubio arrived in Israel late on Saturday. He is scheduled to hold a series of meetings the following day, and, perhaps, the next as well, before proceeding onto Saudi Arabia.
European officials are very concerned that they will not be included in the talks over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Reportedly, France will host an emergency summit on the issue in the next few days.
Gaza Ceasefire
Hegseth’s discussion with bin Salman also likely involved the conflict in Gaza and the uneasy ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the first phase of which began on Jan. 19.
The second phase is supposed to begin in two weeks and provide for Hamas’s release of all its remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the conflict. However, that schedule is in doubt, as substantive discussions on Phase II of the ceasefire have not even begun.
On Feb. 20, Riyadh will host an Arab summit on the Gaza conflict. It will consider Trump’s highly controversial proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza and turn the area into a Mediterranean beach resort.
Trump has a very unorthodox style, and It can be difficult to understand his real intent. That said, however, it is this reporter’s view that it is a negotiating position, meant to spur Hamas to stick to the terms of the ceasefire—which it did in releasing hostages on Saturday, after first saying that it would not—and to prod the Arabs into producing a proposal on how to deal with the devastation in Gaza that followed Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
Confronting Iran and its Proxies
Last week, In announcing Rubio’s Middle East tour, State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce described a principal goal of that diplomacy: “countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies.”
That is likely to be welcome in Riyadh, as Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been regional rivals. Almost certainly, Rubio will discuss the issue with the Saudis, while he is there.
When the Biden administration took office, it believed that Trump’s pressure on Iran during his first term had been a major source of regional unrest. So it pursued the reverse policy: one of accommodating Tehran. However, the Biden administration’s initial assumption proved quite incorrect, and some three years later, it reversed that policy.
Read More: Biden: Need to Contain ‘Threat Posed by Iran’
However, it never really got as tough as the first Trump administration, and the second Trump administration has signaled that it will restore its original policy toward Iran.
Hegseth’s Discussions with Qatari Counterpart
Hegseth also spoke with his Qatari counterpart on Saturday. Their discussion followed a joint military exercise which CENTCOM conducted with the Qatari Armed Forces last month, from Jan. 9 to Jan. 23, called. Eagle Resolve 2025.
“The Eagle Reserve maneuvers are a cornerstone of military cooperation between the United States and its Gulf partners—Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates,” CENTCOM said in a recent statement.
“The exercise enhances regional security by fostering interoperability, strengthening response capabilities, and refining joint military readiness,” the statement continued.
In addition, the main U.S. airbase in the region—Al Udeid— is located in Qatar.
On Saturday, as a Pentagon statement explained, “Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, “held an introductory call” to “reaffirm the bilateral defense partnership and discuss opportunities to work together in support of regional security.”
“The Secretary thanked Qatar for hosting U.S. and Coalition forces at Al Udeid Air Base and urged continued support for Trump administration efforts to secure the release of the hostages from Gaza.” It continued.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the U.S., has been a key mediator in the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Finally, the National Security Advisor of Bahrain, Lt. Gen. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is also Commander of the Royal Guard, was in Washington last week.
On Thursday, Khalifa met with National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and “emphasized Bahrain’s commitment to strengthening relations with the United States across various domains,” according to the Bahrain News Agency.
Khalifa also met with a senior Pentagon official, Alex Velez-Green, who was acting as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the number three figure in the U.S. Defense Department.
Just as Qatar hosts the major U.S. air base in the region, Bahrain hosts the major U.S. naval base.
“Mr. Velez-Green expressed appreciation for Bahrain’s support to U.S.-led regional operations as host of USNAVCENT and the broader security partnership in light of Bahrain’s role as a major non-NATO ally,” according to the Pentagon’s statement on their meeting.