President Joe Biden says the US will remain an active and engaged partner in the Middle East, focusing on regional ties.

This week, China will host representatives from Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Iran and Turkey for talks. While China is the region’s biggest trading partner and energy buyer, relations have gone beyond economic ties.

The EU resisted, so far, U.S. pressure to violate the UN Security Council-endorsed nuclear deal with Iran. Instead, it established a special trading mechanism known as INSTEX to bypass the U.S. sanctions to trade with Iran. Even if INSTEX falls far short of Iran’s expectations (and of many in the EU itself), it is at least a symbolic challenge to Washington...