President Barack Obama on Thursday updated leaders from Gulf states on international efforts to forge a nuclear deal with Iran, US deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said. Rhodes said the United States would welcome support from Gulf countries for the deal, which many Arab leaders are concerned would empower Iran to work in destabilizing ways in the region.
Asked about the potential for a nuclear arms race, Rhodes said none of the Gulf countries present had given indications they would pursue a nuclear program that would raise concerns.
Obama is meeting with the leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat. Earlier Obama whisked six Gulf leaders away to Camp David, for a fence-mending summit bedeviled by disagreements and raging crises in the Middle East.
The bucolic Catoctin mountain getaway, synonymous with Middle East peacemaking during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, is once again a venue for attempts at reconciliation.
President Obama faces the tough task of convincing Gulf ledaers that his willingness to negotiate with their foe Iran does not represent a pivot away from Washington's long-standing allies.
On Wednesday, in his meeting with the Saudi delegation led by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, Obama lauded “an extraordinary friendship and relationship.”
“We are continuing to build that relationship during a very challenging time,” Obama said, a nod to conflagrations in Yemen, Syria and Iraq that have reverberated across the Middle East.
Obama praised the crown prince Mohammed and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, for their work on counterterrorism, which he described as “absolutely critical” to the US. — Agencies
