CAIRO: US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to assure Middle East allies Sunday that the Iran nuclear deal would make them safer, as he began a regional tour in Egypt.

Kerry met his counterpart Sameh Shoukry to boost relations between the two countries with a pledge of support.

He later met President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and was also scheduled to fly to Qatar to meet GCC counterparts.

Egypt and other regional states such as Saudi Arabia are suspicious of Iran, which they see as bent on destabilizing them.

“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 a joint news conference with Shoukry.

“The US and Egypt recognize that Iran is engaged in destabilizing activities in the region — and that is why it is so important to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains wholly peaceful,” he said.

“If Iran is destabilzing, it is far, far better to have an Iran that doesn’t have a nuclear weapon than one that does.”

The “US and Egypt are moving back to a stronger base of relationship,” he said at the news conference.

“We have signficantly increased military cooperation as seen from the delivery of the F-16s, other equipment and goods which are very essential in the fight against terrorism,” Kerry said.

Earlier, at the televised start of the meeting with Shoukry, Kerry said Washington wanted to support Cairo economically and politically.

“The American people are committed to the security and economic wellbeing of the Egyptian people,” he said.

The US has again grown supportive of Egypt as El-Sissi battles the Daesh terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula.

“One of the key decision points of why we decided to move forward was our estimate that the Egyptians were facing a very serious threat from Daesh-affiliated organizations in the Sinai and that we needed to help them,” a State Department official said ahead of Kerry’s visit, using another acronym for IS.

However, Washington has remained critical of Egypt’s human rights record.

On Sunday, when asked about jailed journalists, Shoukry said: “None of these journalists are held... in relation with their profession as journalists” but because of their “implication in terrorist activities.”

Kerry’s trip, which ends on August 8, will not include Israel, one of Washington’s closest allies.

In Doha, Kerry will meet his counterparts from the GCC states, seeking to allay their fears about Iran, following the nuclear deal signed in Vienna.

“This is an opportunity, really, for the secretary to do a deep dive with the GCC foreign ministers to try to respond to any remaining questions that they might have and hopefully to satisfy them and ensure that they’re supporting our effort going forward,” the State Department official said.

Many Gulf states have said they are concerned about Iran’s regional ambitions following the pact with the US and Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.