Friday 15 May 2015 - 14:13 Makkah mean time-26-7-1436
Camp David (IINA) - US President Barack Obama has vowed to back Gulf allies against any "external attack," seeking to reassure them of Washington's commitment to their security amid Arab anxiety over US-led efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, according to media reports.
Obama, hosting the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council for a rare summit at the Camp David presidential retreat, pledged that the US would cooperate with them to address what he called Iran's "destabilizing activities in the region." "The United States will stand by our GCC partners against external attack and will deepen and extend cooperation that we have," Obama told reporters, with Gulf leaders standing by his side at the end of the talks, Al Jazeera reported. Obama promised a "concrete series of steps" from the one-day summit as he sought to allay Gulf Arab fears that the potential lifting of international sanctions on Tehran would embolden it in the region and raise the risk of more sectarian strife. Addressing reporters after the summit with six Gulf leaders, Obama said: “I am reaffirming our ironclad commitment to the security of our Gulf partners. “As we’ve declared in our joint statement, the United States is prepared to work jointly with GCC member states to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity that is inconsistent with the U.N. charter,” he said.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir had said details of the Iran agreement were still being implemented so Riyadh would wait and see what happens. The leaders issued a joint statement saying that in the event of aggression, the US stood ready to work with the Arab nations "to determine urgently what action may be appropriate, using the means at our collective disposal, including the potential use of military force, for the defense of our GCC partners". While the US has long provided military support to partners in the Gulf, the joint statement pledged new cooperation on counterterrorism, maritime security, cyber security and ballistic missile defense, among other things. But US officials said the increased US commitments stop short of a formal defense treaty that some of the Gulf countries had sought. The leaders also agreed to press all parties in Libya to reach political agreement and a national unity government before Ramadan.
Differences over US policy toward Tehran, Syria's civil war and the Arab Spring uprisings loomed over Thursday's meetings, which were already clouded by the absence of most of the Gulf's ruling monarchs, who instead sent lower-level officials. During the meeting, Obama updated GCC leaders on international efforts to forge a nuclear deal with Iran, said Ben Rhodes, US deputy national security adviser. Rhodes said the US would welcome support from Gulf countries for the deal, which many Arab leaders are concerned would empower Iran to work in destabilizing ways in the region.
The White House said the first day of the summit focused on the Iranian nuclear deal. To go through the details of nuclear talks with Iran, Obama brought along his secretaries of treasury, state, energy as well as CIA director — and former Riyadh station chief — John Brennan. The summit discussed prospects of speedy US military assistance for the Gulf countries including missile defense systems, the White House said. “We have received requests from the GCC states to get more weapons even before the summit,” a White House spokesman said. He emphasized that the US would continue its efforts to strengthen the defense capabilities of GCC countries. Obama is expected to offer the GCC countries more military assistance, including increased joint exercises and coordination on ballistic missile systems. Rhodes said Obama and Gulf leaders would discuss strategies for Syria.
HA/IINA
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
No comments:
Post a Comment