JEDDAH: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers will meet US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday in Bahrain.

The meeting is part of preparations for the upcoming GCC-US Summit, which will be held on April 21 in Riyadh.

In a press statement on Monday, the GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said that the meeting comes within the framework of the strategic partnership binding the Arabian Gulf countries and the United States.

The meeting in Bahrain will discuss results of the working teams, which were set up following the Camp David Summit in May 2015, so as to study ways of consolidating political, defense, security and economic ties.

The GCC-US session will also focus on efforts to settle the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya, in addition to counter-terrorism issues, and regional and international issues of mutual interest. 

The White House had earlier said that President Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia in April for a summit with Gulf Arab leaders. The summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council comes as an attempt to ease concerns among US allies over the Iran deal.