Syria and Iran top agenda of Kerry and GCC ministers

Syria, Iran and the Israel-Palestinian conflict will top the agenda at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and US Secretary of State John Kerry tomorrow.
A day before the meeting with Kerry, the GCC foreign ministers will be holding their regular session today at the GCC General Secretariat.
The US-GCC talks are expected to be rich in political contents with added focus on the US administration’s policies on Syria and Iran. After meeting with his GCC counterparts in Riyadh, Kerry will fly on to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The meeting of Kerry with Gulf ministers is significant, as the Arab states – including the Gulf countries – have expressed growing concerns, frustrations and disappointments about the US policy on several regional issues, mainly on Syria. The Gulf states have repeatedly called for rebel forces to be armed in their battle against President Bashar Assad’s regime, a move opposed by the US.
Asked about the agenda of the today’s GCC ministerial meeting, Saleem S. A. Al-Alwi, a spokesman of the GCC Secretariat, said, “The foreign ministers will discuss the whole range of regional issues including Syria. This ministerial meeting comes a day after an important meeting of the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul, where they will elect their prime minister and government to run parts of free Syria.”
Al-Alwi said that the GCC were also concerned about the security situation in the region. The visit of Kerry will provide an opportunity to revisit the defense cooperation the GCC as a bloc has had with the US. The GCC have taken several individual and collective steps to boost their capability. The GCC joint force called ‘Peninsula Shield’ wrapped up their 17-day military exercise only last Wednesday.
Referring to the changing policy of the US on key regional issues, including Syria, Abdul Aziz Sager, chairman of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center (GRC), said that Washington has been “vetoing arms shipments and preventing GCC countries from helping the rebels, apart from refusing to arm the rebels.”
Gulf states would like to see Washington “lift its veto on arms sent to the rebels,” said Sager, while questioning the US intentions about Syria.
GCC countries are also concerned over US policies on Iran and its nuclear program. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gulf states have made no secret of their frustration at the US administration’s failure to pressure its Israeli ally into a two-state solution.
It is expected that Kerry, who has visited the Middle East several times in the past, could bring a change of focus. Kerry knows the Middle East and he may bring a renewed attention to the region, said another political analyst, adding that Kerry seems to be injecting a little more urgency in the Syrian situation.