US eases Arab concerns

Kerry: We are open to ’new arrangement’ on Iran’s missile tests

MANAMA (Bahrain): The United States has suggested that it is open to a “new arrangement” with Iran for peacefully resolving disputes such as Teheran’s recent ballistic missile tests, while America’s Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf said Iran must stop sending forces to Syria and weapons to Yemen if it wants to normalise ties with its neighbours.

Setting the stage for President Barack Obama’s summit with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia later this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to advance a series of proposals aimed at easing Arabs’ concerns about last year’s Iran nuclear deal and the warming of ties between the US and Iran. These include providing new counterterrorism, conventional military, missile defence and cybersecurity capabilities.

Kerry raised several other ideas, including a possible partnership between the GCC and Nato to help stabilise the conflict-ravaged Arabian Peninsula. He pledged US$139mil (RM542mil) in new US humanitarian assistance for Yemen to be doled out over the coming year, but his most interesting suggestion concerned the Iranian ballistic missile activities the US had denounced as violations of a United Nations ban.

A moment after declaring America was united with Persian Gulf countries against the Iranian missile tests, Kerry said the US and its partners were telling Iran that they were “prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution to these issues.”

He said Iran first had to “make it clear to everybody that they are prepared to cease these kinds of activities that raise questions about credibility and questions about intentions.” Kerry didn’t elaborate further. The foreign ministers also addressed the fight against the Islamic State and the region’s two deadly civil wars in Syria and Yemen.

But for Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, the threat posed by Iran was clearly the most pressing concern.

“If Iran wants to have normal relations,” al-Jubeir said through an interpreter, “it has to change its policies.” He said that includes no more weapons smuggling to countries at peace or war on the Arabian peninsula, and no more interference in others’ internal affairs.

“If Iran continues its aggressive policy,” al-Jubeir added, “it will be difficult to deal with Iran.”

After touring the US Navy base on the island that hosts the 5th Fleet and supports US maritime activities throughout the Middle East, Kerry highlighted the role of Western interdictions of Iranian weapons shipments. Four have been stopped in the last six months, with the US, Britain and France seizing anti-tank munitions, sniper rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

All were believed intended for Yemen’s Shiite rebels battling Saudi Arabia, helping reinforce fears among the Sunni kingdoms that Iran is threatening their stability.

If Iran wants to have normal relations, it has to change its policies.

Adel al-Jubeir