US Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to Saudi Arabia has sought to curb concerns from Gulf Arab allies over an apparent thaw in relations between the US and Iran. Kerry spoke yesterday in Riyadh after meeting his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and other Foreign Ministers from the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
He also held talks with Saudi’s King Salman and the monarch’s son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defence minister. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of US engagement in the region, particularly in the face of what they see as Iran’s interference in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. Those sentiments reached a new level after the historic international deal which this month lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.
Kerry also announced that the Syria Support Group of 20 nations and organisations will meet very shortly to help push peace in the conflict ridden country. Yesterday he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed by telephone the makeup of the opposition side.