7 shares
US President Joe Biden delivers his inauguration speech on January 20, 2021, at the US Capitol in Washington. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Newspapers in Arab states of the Gulf on Thursday gave a cautious welcome to new US President Joe Biden, amid uncertainty over whether he will seek to re-engage with regional rival Iran.
Leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council — with the exception of Saudi Arabia and Oman — were quick to formally congratulate Biden, who was sworn into office Wednesday in a ceremony boycotted by his predecessor Donald Trump.
“Goodbye Trump, hello Biden,” Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed wrote in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.