Obama tries to allay fears over Iran ties
President Barack Obama has tried to reassure America’s Gulf allies that engaging with Iran would not come at their expense, at a Camp David summit that proved short on concrete outcomes.
Pledging to counter external threats to Gulf states amid Iran’s growing role in the region, Obama said his security commitment to the decades-old allies was ‘‘ironclad’’. He said the US was prepared to help ‘‘deter and confront an external threat to any GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) state’s territorial integrity’’.
But behind the warm words, there remains deep unease.
Only two out of six Gulf heads of state accepted the invitation to visit the presidential mountain retreat, in what was widely seen as a snub to the US leader.
Around the table, Obama faced the tough task of convincing sceptical emirs, princes and sheikhs that his ambition to reach a nuclear deal with Tehran will not come at their expense.
Iran stands to regain in excess of $US100 billion in blocked cash if sanctions are lifted – cash the Gulf states believe could help fund the Islamic republic’s ‘‘destabilising’’ activities in the region.
‘‘Most of the destabilising activity that Iran engages in is lowtech, low-cost activity,’’ Obama said, indicating that he believed Iran would be more interested in fixing its economy than bumper weapons buys.
Gulf states are not so sure, and had asked the US to provide a written guarantee of their security.
But that suggestion has been rebuffed.
‘‘We’re not initiating treaties, mutual defence treaties,’’ said senior Obama adviser Ben Rhodes.
Such a pact would be difficult to pass through a pro-Israeli congress, and the White House sees asymmetric threats and internal unease at closed political systems as a greater security priority.
The Gulf states had to settle for progress on ballistic missile defence, joint military exercises, and cyber and maritime security initiatives.
But Obama also insisted that close security ties with Gulf nations were not designed to box in Iran.