As part of his intensive diplomacy, US Secretary of State John Kerry sought Thursday to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and explore ways to calm instability in Yemen and other troubled nations in the Middle East.
A day after wrapping up the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations in Switzerland, Kerry was in Riyadh for talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and senior officials from the Gulf states.
Kerry met with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are perturbed over Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its increasing assertiveness throughout the region.
US officials said Kerry reassured Gulf ministers that a deal with Tehran will not allow Iran to get the bomb and won't mean American complacency on broader security matters.
Iran is actively supporting forces fighting in Syria and Iraq and is linked to Shiite rebels who recently toppled the US and Arab-backed government in Yemen.
Kerry said no matter what happens with the Iranian nuclear talks, the US will continue to confront “Iranian expansion” and “aggressiveness” in the region and work closely with the Gulf states on security and defense capabilities, according to American officials.
Saud: Face IS ‘on the ground'
Later at a joint press conference with Kerry, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, foreign minister, urged the US-led coalition conducting air strikes against the self proclaimed Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq to wage a ground war against the militants.
The Kingdom, part of that coalition, “stresses the need to provide the military means needed to face this challenge on the ground,” he said. Prince Saud also warned of Iran's growing role in Iraq, accusing the Shiite-dominated republic of “taking over” the Kingdom's Arab neighbor through its aid in the fight against IS.
“Tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about. Iran is taking over the country,” Faisal said of the late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein's hometown.
Talking about situation in Syria, Kerry said President Bashar Al-Assad “has lost any semblance of legitimacy, but we have no higher priority than disrupting and defeating Daesh and other terror networks”, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
“Ultimately a combination of diplomacy and pressure will be needed to bring about a political transition. Military pressure particularly may be necessary given President Assad's reluctance to negotiate seriously.”
In his talks with the GCC ministers, Kerry reiterated that the US supports UN efforts to promote a dialogue leading to a political transition in the country which is embroiled in a political crisis that threatens to split the country. The UN-mediated talks are aimed at breaking the political stalemate between the rebels known as the Houthis and Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
