(MENAFN- Arab Times) Was-hington has agreed to speed up arms sales to Gulf states, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday after talks in Doha on their concerns over the Iran nuclear deal. His Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammad Al-Attiyah, told a joint press conference with Kerry that the nuclear deal was "the best option among other options". Kerry said the United States had "agreed to expedite certain arms sales that are needed and that have taken too long in the past".
Following talks with foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Kerry said Washington and its Arab allies in the region would also step up efforts to share intelligence and increase the number of joint military exercises. The secretary of state travelled to the Qatari capital for meetings with the Sunni monarchies of the GCC in a bid to calm their fears over the nuclear accord with Shiite Iran. The GCC groups Qatar with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Gulf countries have expressed concerns that the July 14 deal between Iran and world powers would allow greater interference in the region by the Islamic republic. "We talked about the possibility, not the probability, the reality of increasing the number of exercises that we are conducting together," Kerry said. "These are a few examples and ways in which we believe the security of the region can be strengthened and cooperation will be enhanced." Attiyah, for his part, said there was support for the nuclear deal among countries in the Gulf, despite their cautious reaction.
"This was the best option among other options to come up with a solution to the nuclear weapons of Iran through dialogue," the Qatari minister said, speaking in Arabic. Kerry met Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, and Qatar's emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, before heading into the talks with GCC foreign ministers. He also held a three-way meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Jubeir, with discussions expected to centre on Syria. Kerry flew in to Qatar on Sunday evening after a visit to Egypt, where he also sought to assure Cairo that the landmark Iran deal signed in Vienna would bring greater security to the Middle East.
"There can be absolutely no question that if the Vienna plan is fully implemented, it will make Egypt and all the countries of this region safer than they otherwise would be or were," Kerry told reporters in Cairo. Egypt like other regional states remains suspicious of Iran, which has backed President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen. Kerry said the US 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".
"If Iran is destabilising, it is far, far better to have an Iran that doesn't have a nuclear weapon than one that does," he said. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that the July 14 agreement had improved the prospects of ending the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. "The final solution in Yemen is political, in Syria the final solution is political," he said. "The agreement will create a new atmosphere. The climate will be easier."
Meanwhile, US backers of the Iran nuclear deal are increasingly confident of enough Democratic support to ensure it survives review by Congress, despite fierce opposition by majority Republicans and a massive lobbying drive.
By the time the House of Repres-entatives recessed for the summer last week, no senior Democrat in the chamber had come out formally against the agreement and several central figures, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, were strongly in favor. Pelosi said she was confident that if, as expected, Republicans pass a "resolution of disapproval" to try to sink the deal, a promised veto of that measure by President Barack Obama would be sustained. At least 44 Democrats in the House and 13 Democrats in the Senate would have to defy Obama and join Republicans in opposing the deal to get the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override a veto.
"More and more of them (House Democrats) have confirmed to me that they will be there to sustain the veto," Pelosi told reporters. The United States was the prime negotiator in the July 14 agreement between world powers and Iran to curtail Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, and its engagement is essential for implementing it. In the last two weeks, the White House has rolled out its big guns at congressional hearings and private meetings to advocate for the deal, which Obama says is not perfect but is the best way to keep Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.
Powerful pro-Israel lobbying groups that believe it would endanger the Jewish state by empowering Iran have been especially active, although some pro- Israel factions support the deal. Opponents had hoped influential Democrats would come out against the deal early, to give momentum before the recess. But despite signs of skepticism, the few Democrats who did openly oppose it, including Representatives Grace Meng and Juan Vargas, are not among those considered influential on the issue.
"That shows the strength of the firewall we have here," a senior Democratic congressional aide said. At least 13 Democrats in the Senate and 44 in the House would have to join Republicans in opposing the deal to get the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override a veto. To date, no Senate Democrat has formally announced opposition, although many are undecided.
A few influential leaders, including number two Democrat Dick Durbin, are strongly in favor. The Senate recess begins on Friday and both houses return to Washington on Sept 8. Congress then has until Sept 17 to accept or reject the pact, which the White House considers one of the major foreign policy initiatives of the Obama presidency.
Confidence
President Hassan Rouhani affirmed his confidence in Iran's nuclear deal with world powers on Sunday, tackling the criticisms of hardliners and highlighting the achievements of his two-year-old presidency. With one eye on a likely run for reelection in 2017, Rouhani used a live interview on state TV to tout the deal as a new "third way" for Iranian foreign policy, dismissing hardliners' criticism that he had capitulated to the West.
"This idea that we have two options before the world, either submit to it or defeat it, is illogical: there is also a third way, of constructive cooperation with the world in a framework of national interests," he said. "We worked with the United Nations without war or pleading or surrender, but with logic, negotiation and diplomacy in a legal path," he said, avoiding any direct mention of the United States or other Western powers.
He also touted the economic achievements of his government, which has brought inflation down from highs above 40 percent and restored economic growth, trends that should be maintained by the promised sanctions relief. Rouhani downplayed the risk that nuclear inspections could jeopardise Iran's state secrets and defensive capabilities, a key line of attack by hardliners in the security establishment who fear a military attack by Western powers.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had forbade giving UN inspectors access to military sites, and it was only with delicate wording that this sticking point was resolved in the deal. "We will not give away even the smallest national secret, whether military, scientific, commercial or societal " our defensive capability won't be diminished at all," Rouhani said. He invoked popular support for the diplomatic opening, casting his election victory two years ago as a "referendum" on how Iran should conduct itself on the world stage.
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