President Obama gave an overview of issues discussed with Persian Gulf leaders during a meeting held at Camp David Thursday. Obama said the group addressed Iran’s nuclear program and the crisis in Yemen, amongst other topics
CAMP DAVID – The United States on Thursday reaffirmed its “unequivocal” commitment to use “all elements of power” to secure U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region and to protect partner nations there against any external aggression, Washington Post reported on May 14.
In a rare visit to his presidential retreat, President Obama met with top officials from six Gulf States in the hope of easing tensions that have developed between America and some of its longtime allies after a tentative nuclear deal with Iran, which is seen as a disruptive force in the region.
The leaders also discussed the “interference” of “non-Arab countries in the affairs of the region,” the emir said, referring to Iran.
Still, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir would not say whether his country would sign off on the deal the world’s major powers hope to strike with Iran by the end of June. “We will follow the talks and see before we can judge in terms of whether or not the Iranians will do what it takes to reach a deal,” he said.
The two sides did promise to “work together to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.” They also agreed to a follow-on summit next year and to establish a more solid structure to implement shared policy positions. The Gulf States agreed to U.S.-aided development of a regional ballistic missile defense and early warning system.
Several of the gulf countries have missile defense components, such as short-range Patriot systems, but the administration wants them to install a comprehensive U.S.-produced system that would allow short-, medium- and long-range ballistic missile defense.
Jubeir, the Saudi minister, said the group had “an extremely productive day that followed an extremely productive evening,” when they met for dinner at the White House on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, the sessions were aimed at comforting gulf officials rather than challenging them. The president has used Camp David to host world leaders only once before, when he brought members of the Group of Eight here in 2012.
But only two heads of state — the emirs of Kuwait and Qatar — attended Thursday’s summit, which Obama called for last month at the same time he announced that a “framework” for a final deal with Iran had been reached. The majority of the GCC heads of state chose not to attend, instead dispatching their top deputies. The other members of the GCC are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
For a president who had called for “a new beginning” between the United States and the Muslim world six years ago, the summit was a reminder of how complicated relations remain. Although the United States is no longer embroiled in two full-scale wars, gulf leaders are pressing for greater American intervention in the Middle East even as they have become increasingly willing to use their own military forces to counter Iran’s influence.
Ilan Goldenberg, who directs the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, described the meeting in an e-mail as “a relatively disappointing outcome. At the end of the day the administration is not willing to take a tougher stand publicly against Iran’s activities in the region, which is what the GCC really wants.”
Although the administration has acknowledged that at least one gulf government had expressed interest in a NATO-like mutual defense treaty with the United States, both the gulf officials and the White House came to the summit acknowledging that is not going to happen.
Gulf leaders also have urged the administration to undertake bolder action in Syria, arguing that if the United States does not move it will leave Washington with little influence in the event opposition fighters, including some allied with al-Qaeda, oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — something the gulf countries consider an increasing likelihood.