A genuine foreign policy crisis is occurring, and President Barack Obama’s reaction to it betrays his clear failure to comprehend the peril his ongoing missteps have created. He seems bent on aggravating rather than alleviating the problem.

A key meeting of Middle Eastern allies, the Gulf Cooperation Council, is to take place this week at the Camp David presidential retreat. But Saudi Arabia and five other countries have announced their leaders will not attend. Instead, they will send other officials to the gathering.

Officials from some of the countries have made it clear staying away from the summit meeting is a demonstration of their displeasure with Obama’s policy, which appears calculated to appease Iran at the expense of security for many of the other Middle East nations.

Obama’s recent reaction was to annoy some Middle East leaders by insisting their major security problem is not Iran, but dissidents seeking greater freedom in their own countries.

Coming on the heels of Obama’s effort to avoid angering Turkish leaders over the Armenian genocide a century ago, his comments on Saudi Arabia and nearby countries seemed calculated to downplay their importance. No wonder their leaders are angry.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Iranians are eager to exploit Obama’s foolish mistakes. Time is running out for him to correct them.