© MEE/James Reinl
Palestinian FM Riyad al-Maliki
It was not just US President Donald Trump getting laughed at in the UN General Assembly this week.
On Iran, Palestine and other Middle East issues, Washington has drifted away from its global allies and partners, veteran diplomats told Middle East Eye.
At one of several events about Iran's missile-building and support for foreign militias,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was heckled by a woman audience member who was expelled after yelling: "We're sick of you killing these Iranians."
As he exited that meeting at a Manhattan hotel,
Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to Washington, was trailed down the street by another activist calling him a "war criminal" over his country's US-backed military deployment in Yemen.
But, according to UN analysts,
these public embarrassments were overshadowed by a growing international resentment of a Trump administration that is struggling to rally allies and partners behind its policy goals in the Middle East.
"Last year, there was an uncertainty over who Trump was. Was it real? Was it an act? Now, everybody has a year more of understanding of this man and
very few countries, very few leaders, are buying into the show," Daniel Kurtzer, a former US diplomat, told Middle East Eye. "Behind closed doors, they have to face the reality that what Trump has said publicly is now the laughing stock of the international community."
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