RIYADH: US Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Saudi Arabia Saturday, again sought to reassure his Gulf allies concerned over perceived warming of ties between Washington and Iran.
He also announced that the Syria Support Group of 20 nations and organisations will meet “very shortly” to help push peace in the war-ravaged country.
Kerry spoke in Riyadh after attending a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and other foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
“The United States remains concerned about some of the activities that Iran is engaged in other countries,” Kerry told reporters, citing as an example Iran’s support for Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of US engagement in the region, particularly in the face of what they see as Iran’s “interference” in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.
Those feelings crystallised with the historic international deal which this month lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.
Kerry has long sought to reassure his Gulf allies about the overtures to Iran, whose relations with Saudi Arabia have worsened this month.
Saudi Arabia and some of its allies cut diplomatic ties this month with Iran after protesters there burned Riyadh’s embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city of Mashhad. The violence occurred after the kingdom executed cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force behind anti-government protests.
Jubeir told reporters that he did not see a “coming together” of the US and Iran.
During his one-day visit Kerry was also to hold talks with King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defence minister.
He would also meet Riad Hijab, general coordinator of Syria’s largest opposition coalition, which is based in Riyadh, ahead of UN-brokered peace talks.
