GCC Seeks Iran�s N-Assurances
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

Gulf Cooperation Council leaders concluded their one-day consultative summit in Riyadh [May 6] seeking greater assurances from Iran that its nuclear program is entirely for peaceful purposes.

�We appreciate Iran�s efforts to reassure the region over its nuclear program,� UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah ibn Zayed told reporters after the summit. �But for the sake of stability and to avoid any environmental disaster, there needs to be more Iranian guarantees and we are trying to ensure this.�

The minister declined to say whether the political and economic alliance, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, might try to use its close links to Washington to mediate in the dispute. He said Iran had �commitments� to its GCC neighbors as well as the international community to ease concern over its nuclear plans.

However, Sheikh Abdullah said the GCC countries were worried about the Iranian nuclear program. �The Iranian nuclear program ... is worrisome not only for us, but for the entire world,� he said, urging Tehran to act with more �transparency.�

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and has vowed revenge if attacked by the United States or Israel. �We hope this crisis will be brought to an end through peaceful dialogue and (Iran) cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),� GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya said after the Riyadh talks.

The GCC summit took place as France and Britain, with US backing, drafted a UN resolution demanding a halt to Iran�s nuclear fuel program. Russia and China, which have vetoes on Security Council resolutions, may oppose sanctions against Iran, the world�s fourth biggest oil exporter.

Addressing the meeting at Al-Daraeya Palace, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah called upon the GCC countries to stand united in the face of challenges. 

�We have to stand united for goodness and for pleasing all nations,� the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed, who chaired the summit, said the Riyadh meeting coincided with the 25th anniversary of the GCC. 

�This is an occasion to renew our resolve to strengthen our unity and mobilize all our resources to realize the hopes and aspirations of our citizens and bolster the solidarity of the GCC house to confront challenges,� he said.

GCC countries have repeatedly called for making the Middle East region free of nuclear and weapons of mass destruction and asked Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

�The GCC countries do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon but they also do not want force to be used against it,� said Saudi political analyst Dawoud Al-Shiryan. �They want stability in the Gulf and they will call on the world to save the Gulf region from any convulsions.�

During the press briefing, Sheikh Abdullah of the UAE said the summit had discussed ways and means of confronting terrorism. Bahrain has offered to host the international counterterrorism center proposed by King Abdullah, he said, adding that the next meeting of GCC interior ministers on May 23 would discuss the mechanism to set up the center. 

During the summit, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed of Kuwait presented a paper on strengthening security, and political and economic cooperation among the member countries. The paper has been presented to foreign ministers to discuss it further.

[Reprinted with permission of Arab News]