Kerry reassures GCC over Iran nuclear deal

NEW YORK // The US secretary of state has reassured Saudi Arabia and the GCC that an emerging nuclear deal with Iran will not give Tehran greater freedom to pursue its regional interests at their expense.

Washington “will not take our eye off Iran’s destabilising actions” in places like Syria and Yemen, John Kerry said on Thursday in Riyadh where he met King Salman and GCC foreign ministers.

At a joint press conference with Mr Kerry, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud called on the US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria to put troops on the ground, in addition to the air strikes it is already carrying out.

Saudi Arabia, which is part of the coalition along with the UAE, “stresses the need to provide the military means needed to face this challenge on the ground”, said Prince Saud.

Washington was not seeking a “grand bargain” with Tehran that would lead to strategic political and security cooperation, Mr Kerry assured his Arab allies.

“Nothing will be different the day after this agreement, if we were to reach one, with respect to all the other issues in this region,” he said.

Gulf countries have been angered by Washington’s half-hearted attempts to train and arm moderate rebels fighting ISIL as well as Syrian president Bashar Al Assad’s forces, and sidelining efforts to forge a political transition that would see Mr Al Assad step down.

President Barack Obama has said he would not deploy US ground combat forces in the fight against ISIL. On Wednesday the US’ top military officer, General Martin Dempsey, said it was possible that special operations troops could eventually be used to support the Washington-backed rebels in Syria, an idea the White House said was only “theoretical”.

The US has announced plans to train 3,000 vetted Syrian rebels by the end of the year, and Riyadh has agreed to host a training facility that is set to open “in the coming months”, a US official said this week.

While the rebel force is to focus exclusively on fighting ISIL, the official insisted that “hopefully” the US and its Gulf allies can “create an environment that both the Bashar Al Assad regime in Damascus as well as their supporters in Tehran and in Moscow understand requires that they negotiate seriously for some kind of a political transition in Syria”.

Mr Kerry arrived in Riyadh after three days of talks with Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in Switzerland ahead of the March 31 deadline for a framework agreement, and he reiterated that there is no guarantee of a breakthrough.

“We have made progress, but there remains serious gaps that need to be resolved,” Mr Kerry said after his meetings in Riyadh. “It may be that Iran cannot say yes to the type of deal that provides the assurances that the international community requires.”

The Obama administration has emphasised in recent days that no sanctions related to Iran’s support for terrorist groups would be lifted as a result of a nuclear deal being negotiated by the US and five world powers and Tehran.

Ahead of Mr Kerry’s visit to Riyadh, senior state department officials said that that if a nuclear deal is struck it would increase regional stability and security. “We care very deeply about the security of the Gulf … And that is why we are working so hard to reach this agreement,” one said.

On Thursday Mr Kerry said that preventing Tehran from building an atom bomb will reduce the likelihood of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

There have been media reports that a US nuclear umbrella for the Gulf has been under discussion, and the state department official said that the talks in Riyadh would focus on “things that we can do together to strengthen our joint security framework”.

Mr Kerry said that GCC officials would be invited to Washington in the coming months for talks on how the US can help strengthen their security.

The GCC countries have been deeply sceptical of any nuclear deal that leaves Iran with the domestic ability to enrich uranium, which they fear could one day be used to develop a weapon.

But unlike with the government of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US president Barack Obama has been able to convince his Gulf allies to give the initiative the benefit of the doubt – at least until an accord is reached.

What concerns the GCC more than Iran’s enrichment capabilities are enduring fears that the negotiations and a potential deal could bring Washington and Tehran closer together – or at least reduce the traditional US security role in the Gulf – and that Iran would gain greater regional influence as sanctions are lifted.

The negotiations with Iran have come at a time of nearly unprecedented turmoil, stretching from Libya to Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where Gulf officials accuse their archrival Tehran of backing proxies and allies in its quest for regional hegemony, and contributing to the rise of ISIL extremists.

They are particularly concerned by tacit US military cooperation with Iranian forces and Shiite militias in Iraq, which they say will play into ISIL’s narrative of Sunni oppression.

Prince Saud warned that the offensive against ISIL-held Tikrit in Iraq “is exactly what we are worried about. Iran is taking over the country”.

The foreign minister said Iran “promotes terrorism, it occupies lands. These are not the features of a country that seeks to improve its relations with its neighbours”.

Mr Kerry was due to hold talks later in the day with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef.

tkhan@thenational.ae