Fresh from the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations, US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Saudi Arabia today to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging deal and discuss ways to calm instability in troubled Yemen and other Mideast nations.
Kerry left the Iran talks in the Swiss resort town of Montreux and took off for Riyadh where he will see the new Saudi monarch, King Salman, and meet separately with the foreign ministers of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Sunni-ruled Gulf states, like Israel, are unnerved by Shiite Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and its increasing assertiveness throughout the region.
US officials say Kerry will reassure them that a deal with Tehran will not allow Iran to get the bomb and won't mean American complacency on broader security matters. Iran is actively supporting forces fighting in Syria and Iraq and is linked to Shiite rebels that recently toppled the U.S. And Arab-backed government in Yemen.
One senior official said that no matter what happens with the Iranian nuclear talks, the US would continue to confront "Iranian expansion" and "aggressiveness" in the region and work closely with the Gulf states on mutual security arrangements and boosting their defense capabilities. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about Kerry's visit to Riyadh and spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
US officials said Kerry will reiterate that the US supports UN efforts to promote a dialogue leading to a political transition in Yemen, which is embroiled in a political crisis that threatens to split the country.
