President Barack Obama and leaders from six Gulf nations were gathering at Camp David today to work through tensions sparked by the US bid for a nuclear deal with Iran.
Obama is seeking to reassure the Gulf leaders that US overtures to Iran will not come at the expense of commitments to their security. He is expected to offer them more military assistance, including increased joint exercises and coordination on ballistic missile systems.
But when the meetings at the presidential retreat conclude, it's unlikely Obama will have fully assuaged the Gulf's deep-seated fear of Iranian involvement in the region.
"My guess is that the summit is going to leave everybody feeling a little bit unsatisfied," said Jon Alterman, the Middle East director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Obama and the leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain opened their talks with a private dinner yesterday at the White House. Just two heads of state are among those meeting Obama, with other nations sending lower-level, but still influential, representatives.
The most notable absence is Saudi King Salman. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced that the king was skipping the summit, just two days after the White House said he was coming. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were representing Saudi Arabia instead. They held a separate meeting with Obama before the other leaders arrived.
The president made no mention of Saudi scepticism of the Iran talks as he opened the meeting, but acknowledged the region is in the midst of a "very challenging time."
Salman's conspicuous absence comes amid indisputable signs of strain in the long relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, driven not only by Obama's Iran overtures, but also the rise of Islamic State group militants and a lessening U.S. dependency on Saudi oil.
