RIYADH: US Secretary of State John Kerry told Gulf Arab states yesterday that Washington was not seeking a “grand bargain” with Iran, and a nuclear deal with Tehran would be in their interests.
The US’ Gulf allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, are concerned that Shia Iran will gain from any agreement to end years of dispute over its nuclear ambitions.
“Even as we engage in these discussions with Iran around its nuclear programme, we will not take our eye off Iran’s other destabilising actions in places like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Arabian peninsula, Yemen particularly,” Kerry said after meeting the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal.
“Let me underscore: We are not seeking a grand bargain. Nothing will be different the day after this agreement, if we were to reach one, with respect to all of the other issues that challenge us in this region, except we will have taken steps to guarantee that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
Kerry also met Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah and his counterparts in Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman.
He arrived in Riyadh from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, aiming to seal a deal ahead of the March 31 deadline. Gulf countries, like Israel, fear Iran is using its atomic programme to develop a nuclear weapons capability, something Tehran denies. They worry that a nuclear accord will not stop Iran from gaining the bomb.
Prince Saud said Saudi Arabia was concerned by Iran’s involvement in the push being made by Iraqi forces alongside Shia militias to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS).
Kerry also said military pressure may be needed to oust Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Iran has provided military assistance for Syria to fight rebels and to Iraq for its battle against extremists. It has also been accused of backing Houthis who seized Yemeni capital Sana’a and paralysed the government. Agencies
