GCC-US meeting discusses Iran

Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, said that the joint meeting between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers and John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, in Riyadh yesterday  discussed bilateral relations between the United States of America and the GCC countries in general as well as the region's matters of mutual concern, including Syria, Yemen, peace process and attempts to find a solution to it.

"We have discussed the Iranian interference in the region's affairs, ways to confront it in addition to discussion on the latest developments regarding the outcome of Camp David summit," Saudi Press Agency, quoted Al Jubeir as saying in a joint press conference with Kerry today.

He confirmed the congruence of viewpoints on the issues discussed at the joint meeting which comes as part of the continuing consultation and coordination between the United States and the GCC states.

For his part, the US Secretary of State said that, ''We have discussed in detail during the meeting, the agenda awaiting us, their urgent requirements and the issues on the table.

"We underscored the importance of the partnership between the United States of America and the GCC countries, the commitment towards making this partnership a success in addition to agreement to soon meet anew and regularly.''

Kerry said that, "The incidents we witnessed over the last weeks confirm that the incidents are accelerating and that we have to get ready at all levels to confront them.

"In Yemen, there is the Houthi rebellion, noting to the formation of a 60-state coalition to fight Daesh in addition to work with our partners the Iraqis to develop a comprehensive military force to help the people to restore Al Anbar province, drawing the attention to his meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Hayder Al Abadi to discuss the forthcoming military campaign in the aftermath of the successes seen in Al Ramadi in addition to unifying the security efforts to restore Al Saqqa , confirming that over the coming months, Daesh organisation will incur a big blow in Iraq and Syria.

He said he discussed with the GCC foreign ministers the implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, reassuring anew, despite the concerns raised in this regard, that there is support for fully and comprehensively implementing the agreement, eliminating nuclear weapons in the region as a strategic priority for all parties. He noted that his country is also concerned of the activities carried out by Iran in some other countries.

"We have also concerns about the support received by some terrorists groups, like Hezbollah or Iran's self-support for its missiles program, noting that President Obama has responded to these concerns.''

Kerry pointed to the meeting held with GCC countries in Camp David as well as Doha meeting and the meeting in Riyadh.

He said, "There is a need for a special process that allows us to focus on priorities which conduced to this process and would show the way for taking the first steps regarding negotiations with Syria with the confidence of everybody in the initiatives of the UN Secretary General envoy Steven De Ministora over the coming days to unite all parties within these negotiations.''

He said the first meeting will take place in Geneva aiming to fix a mechanism that paves the way for implementing Geneva Declaration and reaching a transitional phase according to UN Security Council resolutions as well as Vienna statement regarding the Syria Support International Group.

He said Syria Support International Group will meet soon and that all the parties wish to get the process going. He added that the meeting will serve as a prelude and help the parties to translate their plans to live up to the requirements of the statement and the Security Council resolutions and to launching a transitional process in Syria that will turn a reality on the ground.

Kerry said that he and GCC foreign ministers are aware of the obstacles facing the political settlement in Syria, particularly as the international community is divided regarding the future of Al Assad, stressing the right of Syrians to determine and choose their country's future.

Al Jubeir confirmed that the US is well aware of the seriousness of the Iranian behavior in terms of Iran's negative practices and activities in the region, in addition to its continued support for terrorism, adding that Iran has signed a nuclear deal and should abide by its terms, and there will be consequences if Iran has not implemented this agreement.

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