The United States, which has always interfered in Middle Eastern affairs, will continue this course under President Donald Trump, seeking to keep the region under its control, Vitaly Naumkin, academician and Scientific Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS in an interview ahead of the 14th Valdai Club Middle East Conference.
“Of course, they [the US] will try to control the region and keep it under their influence,” Naumkin said. While he refrained from making specific predictions about Washington’s actions, he emphasized that “nothing good should be expected.”
“The United States has always intervened, continues to intervene, and will keep doing so. They have a massive military presence there—numerous bases and countless ways to destabilize the situation, creating an environment of controlled chaos,” the academician stated. In his view, “there are no signs that the US will abandon this approach under Trump.”
However, Naumkin pointed out “some shifts that have taken place in the Israeli-Palestinian track.” He believes these shifts suggest that “there may be some interest among American elites in moving away from an exclusively force-based approach to the Middle East.”
When asked about the possibility of war against Iran, Naumkin noted that “such a decision would be extremely unwise and has no justification.” At the same time, he acknowledged that “the threats of war against Iran are very real—not just from across the ocean, but also from Israel, some European powers, and the collective West as a whole.”
“Iran does not possess nuclear weapons and, by all indications, has no intention of developing them. In any case, it is such a large and powerful country that going to war with it would be sheer madness,” Naumkin argued. “There is strong sentiment in the US in favor of using force against Iran. Maybe Trump will take a different path—we’ll see,” the academician concluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on TASS materials