The Obama administration’s cautious approach to the latest eruption in tensions between two major Middle Eastern powers reflects a reluctance to take sides in a dispute where it believes both are at fault, and a sense that a strong US intervention would have little effect and might make things worse, an editorial published in The Washington Post said Tuesday.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry spoke by telephone Monday with Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and defense minister, Mohammed bin Salman, and with Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir, following a call Sunday to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, senior administration officials said.

Kerry appealed to both sides to deescalate their dispute before it goes any further. But “ultimately these are issues that these countries have to work out for themselves,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

“If you’re asking if we’re trying to be a mediator in all this, the answer is no,” Kirby told reporters.

Source: MENA