Kerry: US, Gulf states plan to counter detabilising actions

At a news conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah, Lavrov said: “this position is a violation of worldwide law and represents an obstacle on the road to forming a united front to fight terrorism, including Islamic State and al-Nusra Front”.

Code Pink co-founders Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin used Kerry’s letter at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt to pressure the Egyptian government to allow 1300 leftists passage into Gaza from Egypt. The leftists gathered in Cairo from around the world to mark the one-year anniversary of Israel’s defense against Hamas’ rocket and mortar attacks.

“We talked about the possibility, not the possibility, the reality of increasing the number of exercises that we are conducting together”, Kerry said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is making the Obama administration’s case for the Iran nuclear deal to wary Arab officials in Qatar.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address Sunday that the July 14 nuclear agreement had created better prospects for faster solutions in Syria and Yemen, two of the Middle East’s worst conflict zones.

“We call on the United States of America to exert more efforts to go back to the peace process”, he said before journalists were ushered out of the room.

The GCC groups Qatar with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“Once fully implemented, the (Iran deal) contributes to the region’s long-term security, including by preventing Iran from developing a military nuclear capability”, Kerry said, reading from a joint U.S.-GCC statement to be issued later.

Apparently, Gulf nations feared that the regional stability of energy could be tilting in the direction of Iran, because the historic nuclear deal signed by the US and Iran final month. Saudi Arabia is the largest and most influential member of the council and has been publicly supportive of the Iran deal, albeit with reservations. He said the agreement struck by world powers with Iran in Vienna last month is the best way to do that.

He said Washington recognised that “Iran is engaged in destabilising activities in the region – and that is why it is so important to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme remains wholly peaceful”. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 600 Patriot anti-missile missiles to Saudi Arabia at an expected cost of $5.4 billion as well as $500 million worth of ammunition for various weapons systems.

Kerry’s visit to Qatar follows one last week by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who also stopped in Kuwait and Iraq.

He will also hold trilateral talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, which U.S. officials say will focus on the war in Syria.

Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Russian authorities are hoping for a settlement to Syria’s war through dialogue.

“Permanent security can not be achieved by endangering the security of others”, he wrote, proposing setting up a regional gathering for dialogue whose aim would be to respect each country’s sovereignty and independence.