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DUBAI: Former White House Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt said the American people should know the truth about the Biden administration’s request to delay OPEC+ oil production cuts by a month.

“The American public deserves to know exactly what’s going on,” he said on “Frankly”, Arab News’ flagship weekly current affairs talk show.

But in his experience, Greenblatt added, he doesn’t want to see too much about the topic in the mainstream media. As for Democrats, he said they “will turn to another issue. I don’t think they’re interested in knowing the truth. They’re interested in staying in power at all costs.”

Each week, “Frankly” delves into regional headlines as host Katie Jensen interviews key policymakers and business leaders. As this week’s guest, Greenblatt, the architect of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, discusses who is to blame for the spat between Washington and its longtime allies in the Middle East, whether his former boss can stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, And the past, present and future of the Abraham Accords.

Asked if President Joe Biden’s main priority, as some reports have suggested, is to delay potential OPEC+ cuts until after the U.S. midterm elections, he said: “If the Republicans end up taking control of Congress, I think we Will investigate thoroughly. They may try to throw the book at a Biden administration.”

Referring to an administration official’s evasive reaction at a news conference, he said: “When I saw an answer like this, I really understood, hey, what the hell is going on here? If they do ask Saudi Arabia to delay, Of course it could be because of the midterm elections, and that’s the investigation I want Congress to catch.”

Greenblatt added: “I’m not a legal expert in this field, so I don’t know what to expect. But after going through or reading all the things they tried to attack President Trump, none of them really got stuck, There could be legal consequences, but I don’t know what they could be.”

Greenblatt believes it is not surprising that calls for such an investigation “do not come from the mouths of those trying to lower ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.” “All you’re seeing is political crap, and if it gets any traction, it’s going to be very bad for America,” he said.

For MPs who have been calling for new measures against Saudi Arabia, including a blanket ban on arms sales, Greenblatt said that everything these efforts have achieved is “purely political.”

Referring to what he sees as the deterioration of Saudi-U.S. relations since Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia in July, he said: “The main reason is that he has put himself in a corner, a zone of left-leaning radicals who don’t understand.

“They certainly don’t understand the importance and value of America’s strategic relationship with countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And I think they’re trying to push him to do things that don’t make sense for America.”

He dismissed the theory that Saudi Arabia sided with Russia in agreeing to OPEC+ production cuts, saying: “The President of Ukraine, for example, thanked Saudi Arabia for the large donation to Ukraine. You have other evidence that this has nothing to do with Ukraine and Russia — it is purely It’s about the economy of the region, OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia. There are (still) these people in Congress who don’t know what they’re talking about when they say they’re going to remove American personnel and military equipment.

“What they don’t tell the American public is that America needs military personnel and equipment from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and all the other places. Imagine what’s going to happen in the region, imagine what’s going to happen to oil prices, imagine if we do what they say how it will bounce back in the face of the United States.”

Greenblatt dismissed as “complete nonsense” that the US and Saudi Arabia are not allies and we don’t have the same strategic interests, adding: “We may have differences of opinion, we may have differences, we may have concerns , but that doesn’t mean we’re not friends and allies. Friends and allies can disagree.”

Another issue that the US news media seems to be paying less attention to is the Iranian regime’s tough response to the ongoing anti-government protests. Greenblatt was silent on the topic. “For example, we choose the new or the old Iran (nuclear) deal over the freedom of the Iranian people,” he said.

“The mainstream media is actually not interested in covering the protests. They only started to embrace the protests more last weekend when the infamous (Evin) prison fire broke out.”

Likewise, Greenblatt has been outspoken about his views on the Biden administration negotiating with Iran and courting Venezuela. “The Iranian regime sits there and mocks the Biden administration and says, you know, you want this deal so badly that you’re going to cover up everything we’ve done to get it done,” he said.

“We’re looking at all the places in Iran and Venezuela to get oil, not in our own backyard, and not doing business as normal with Saudi Arabia, UAE and the rest of OPEC+ to try and solve the oil problem. But we can have no problem go to brutal regimes like Iran and Venezuela for oil. That’s the message from the White House.”

Turning to the Middle East conflict, Greenblatt countered the argument that the Trump administration solved the easy problems by brokering a peace deal between Israel and the four Arab states, while the most important part – the Palestinians’ The occupation remains unresolved.

“These are two very different issues,” he countered. “First of all, we do focus on the Palestinians, but like every administration before us, the Palestinians cut us off. They don’t like President Trump following American law, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the embassy, This is American law. All President Trump does is obey American law. They cut us off. We are not the first administration they cut off.”

Still, Greenblatt expressed hope that “someday they’ll bridge that gap and come up with a realistic new leadership that’s willing to sit down with Israel, maybe with the Arabs and sign the Abraham Accords, maybe even other countries, and try to figure it out. How to solve the problem.

“But of course it shouldn’t come at the expense of Israel’s relationship with the UAE, Morocco’s relationship, Bahrain’s relationship, and maybe even ultimately to the detriment of other countries in the region.”

After expressing his views, what does Greenblatt blame for this lack of progress between the Palestinians and his own (Trump) administration, his own team?

“If Palestinian leaders want Palestinians to have a better life, they are welcome,” he said. “I believe President Trump, if he’s still in the Oval Office or going there again, will welcome them with open arms. I think President Biden welcomes them with open arms. But they refuse to be helped.”

He cited Biden’s comments ahead of new elections in Israel, saying now is not the time to try and negotiate peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

“There are many reasons for this. We have to wait until the Israeli elections in November. We have to see what kind of elections are — who gets to power and whether they have a strong coalition,” Greenblatt said.

“The (Naftali Bennett) coalition is doing their best to get the government back up and running, but they will certainly stay away from any peace talks. But it is time for the Palestinians to work hard to tidy up their houses so that when Israel finally builds a strong Palestinians can be ready to negotiate. If they wait until it happens, they may find themselves missing out again.”