US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for tighter defence integration among Gulf Arabs in response to Iran, part of efforts to encourage moderation by Israel by dangling the prospect of better ties with the region.
Blinken was starting his seventh visit to the Middle East since October 7, in the context of growing public pressure for a ceasefire and following Iran’s unprecendented attack on Israel.
“This attack highlights the acute and growing threat from Iran but also the imperative that we work together on integrated defence,” Blinken told Gulf Cooperation Council ministers meeting in Riyadh.
Blinken said the United States would hold talks in the coming weeks with the six-nation bloc on integrating air and missile defence and boosting maritime security.
The United States already has strong military relations with all the Gulf Arab states, but relations among the six have seen their ups and downs.
Gulf Arabs, through their meeting with the United States, were choosing “greater integration” and “greater peace”, he said.
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Incentivising Netanyahu
Two Gulf Arab nations — the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — have recognised Israel but the United States has been pushing a bigger prize: Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
Blinken was expected to meet later Monday with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to seek to push forward normalisation.
Washington has hoped to use the prospect of Saudi ties to encourage compromise by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sought to build relations with the Arab world.
Qatar has played a key role in talks that aim to halt the fighting between Israel and Hamas and release hostages.
Opening the meeting, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the “international community’s failure to find a solution to the Palestinian cause” presents one of the “most significant” challenges to regional security.
Blinken told the Gulf Arab nations that he would press for a Palestinian state and more humanitarian access into Gaza.
Blinken, who will later head to Jordan and Israel, arrived hours after President Joe Biden and Netanyahu spoke by telephone about ceasefire talks.
Biden also reiterated concerns about Israel launching an operation in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than one million Palestinians have taken shelter.
With AFP
