(MENAFN- Arab Times) US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said NATO member states wanted to see a clearer defence agreement with Gulf Arab states to fight terror, ahead of summit with Gulf leaders to be hosted by President Barack Obama. "I think all of the member states feel very strongly that defining a" clearer defence arrangement between the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and other friendly countries and the United States is going to be critical to helping them push back against terrorism," he said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey.
Such an arrangement "would also help fight against some other activities that take place in that region that are unsettling to all of those countries," he added, without specifying further. Kerry's statement appeared to indicate support for a more formal defence accord between NATO and Gulf states to fight terror, at a time of unusual tensions between some Arabian peninsula states and the US.
Obama had invited six Gulf kings, Amirs and sultans to the presidential retreat at Camp David for the summit, seeking to shore up wavering trust while Washington negotiates with regional power Tehran. But only two heads of state are slated to attend the meeting, with King Salman of Saudi Arabia the most notable absentee. The meeting comes as a Saudi-set humanitarian truce takes effect in Yemen, after intensive bombing by a military coalition led by the kingdom targeting Iran-backed rebels.
Obama hailed America's "extraordinary friendship" with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, as he hosted skeptical Gulf leaders at the White House for a summit beset by disagreements and royal noshows. Describing "an extraordinary friendship and relationship that dates back to (US president) Franklin Roosevelt and King Faisal," in the 1940s, Obama heaped praise on two powerful Saudi princes in the Oval Office. "We are continuing to build that relationship during a very challenging time," Obama said, adding that his counterterrorism work with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was "absolutely critical" to the United States.
The Crown Prince also lauded the "great importance" of the "strategic and historic relationship between our two countries." But the warm words belied deep divisions over Iran's role in the region and US security guarantees. Conspicuous in his absence at the White House was Saudi leader King Salman, who refused to attend the summit, in what was widely seen as a diplomatic snub, despite Riyadh's insistence it was not. Five other Gulf leaders - but only two heads of state - were expected to arrive at the White House later in the day.
The Arab and largely Sunni Muslim states suspect Obama's nuclear deal with Iran is a harbinger of a bigger role for their Persian and Shiite arch-foe. They will be seeking assurances from Obama that he is ready to push back against Iranian influence in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, even if it causes turbulence in sensitive nuclear talks.
They will also want assurances the nuclear deal does not represent a broader "grand bargain" with Iran. "What they fear, above all, is that, for one reason or another, American policy is beginning to 'tilt' towards Tehran and away from traditional US allies in the region," said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute. Despite close ties stretching back decades, the United States and the conservative Gulf monarchies have never been easy allies. In 1980, in the wake of crippling oil shock prompted by Iran's Islamic Revolution, President Jimmy Carter pledged to come to the defense of vital oil-producing Gulf states.
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