Barrack says U.S. is not leaving Middle East as Washington shifts more security responsibility to region

U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack said Washington is not withdrawing from the Middle East but is moving away from acting as the region’s primary security guarantor, arguing that regional powers increasingly need to manage their own security arrangements.

“The Ottoman Empire was a security guarantor; it left. The Brits came in; they were the security guarantor; they left. We’re here. We’re not leaving,” Barrack said at the Global Security Forum in Doha on Oct. 20. “We’re just saying we’re not going to own it anymore.”

Barrack, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Syria and Iraq, said the shift was already producing new alignments, pointing to Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan engaging Iran while maintaining close ties with Washington.

“The U.S. can’t solve everything,” he said. “The region taking responsibility for itself with new alignments is absolutely the answer.”

On Iran, Barrack said Qatar, Pakistan and other U.S. partners were trying to facilitate diplomacy and argued the sides were approaching a point where they could pause escalation, even without an immediate comprehensive settlement.

He acknowledged that communication had become more difficult following the killing of Iranian officials during the conflict, saying Washington faced challenges understanding decision-making within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Barrack also said Gulf countries were capable of determining their own relationship with Iran and suggested regional states would ultimately work out arrangements governing strategic waterways.

In a separate CNN interview aired Thursday, Barrack rejected the idea that Israel was pursuing a territorial project of a “Greater Israel,” calling the concept an “illusion” promoted by Israel’s political opponents. He said Israel had reassessed its border security after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack.

Barrack also pointed to Syria as a possible example of regional accommodation, saying President Ahmed al-Sharaa had made clear that Damascus did not seek conflict with Israel and wanted peace and normalization.

His comments come as the Trump administration reassesses the U.S. security role in the Middle East after decades in which Washington maintained extensive military commitments and security partnerships across the region.