A final communiqué issued by the six leaders at the end of a two-day summit said they wanted the dispute over Iran's nuclear program to be resolved through “peaceful means” and make the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also urged Iran to "respond positively" to talks with world powers on its contentious nuclear program.
The summit approved a 15-year comprehensive development strategy, a cultural development strategy and a project to link the six member countries with a railway system. It also allowed GCC companies to open their branches in member countries.
“The council followed developments in the Iranian nuclear file with the utmost concern and stresses again the importance of commitment to the principles of international legitimacy and the resolution of conflicts through peaceful means,” said the communiqué.
The annual summit coincided with a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Geneva. The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is designed to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting its objective is to generate electricity.
“It is important that Iran is committed to the basis of good neighborly relations, mutual respect and noninterference in internal affairs, resolving disputes peacefully and not resorting to force or making threats to use it,” said the communiqué.
The communiqué expressed the six leaders' regret about what they said was Tehran's lack of response to efforts to resolve a territorial dispute between Iran and the UAE over three strategically located Gulf islands. The GCC considers the islands “an integral part of the UAE.”
GCC states "welcome international efforts, including those made by the P5+1, to peacefully resolve Iran's nuclear crisis and hope it will respond positively to these efforts," said outgoing Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah. Bahrain’s security chief Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani is the new GCC secretary-general.
The summit stressed the "right of all countries in the region to develop civilian nuclear energy within the standards and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)." These standards had to be applied to all countries in the Middle East, including Israel, the region's sole nuclear weapons-possessing state.
The summit threw its support behind the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate with Israel without a settlement moratorium, stressing any freeze on construction should include East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank.
The leaders also voiced their support for "the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state" and "opposition to a partial settlement or in stages" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
They "denounced the Israeli project for making occupied Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish people" and urged the international community to compel Israel to end its practices aimed at Judaizing Jerusalem.
The summit leaders "stressed the importance of working toward drying up sources of funding for terrorist groups and foiling their criminal aims" and urged the prevention of "media from publishing anything that would encourage these criminal acts."
Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to the summit on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, addressed the final session and invited GCC leaders to attend the next summit in Riyadh.
Prince Naif congratulated UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, current president of GCC and other leaders for the summit’s success. Sheikh Khalifa prayed for the good health of King Abdullah who is recuperating in a US hospital following a back surgery last week.
The Abu Dhabi Declaration, which was issued during the summit, called for working out a long-term strategy on water.
