The Trump administration pressed ahead Friday with plans to create an "Arab NATO" that would unite US partners in the Middle East in an anti-Iran alliance.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in New York with foreign ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to advance the project.
The State Department said Pompeo had stressed the need to defeat the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations as well ending the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, securing Iraq and "stopping Iran's malign activity in the region."