Obama: US Has 'Ironclad' Commitment to Gulf Security

President Barack Obama said Thursday that the United States had an "ironclad" commitment to the security of its Gulf allies and would consider using military force if they were threatened. Obama hosted a summit of leaders and senior ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council at the Camp David presidential retreat north of Washington. They included Saudi Arabia's crown prince and deputy crown prince, the emirs of Kuwait and Qatar and senior officials from Bahrain,

Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The president said after the meeting that he had been “very explicit” during the talks that the United States would stand by its GCC partners “against external attack,” and would consider "using the means at our collective disposal, including the potential use of military force." He said the region is going thorough "extraordinary changes" and "great challenges." The Gulf leaders came to the summit looking for reassurances from the president that the U.S. is fully committed to their security. What they received fell short of the formal defense agreement that some Gulf countries wanted, but they got the message they wanted at a time when they feel threatened by Iran’s role in the region and by the rise of extremist groups. Obama said the U.S. would increase its effort to help the Gulf states meet the full range of threats.


This would include more military exercises and assistance in developing missile defense and rapid response capabilities. The Gulf states have been concerned that a nuclear agreement between their archrival Iran and major world powers would ease Western sanctions and turn Iran into a more aggressive regional power. A number of the Gulf leaders “did express the concern that with additional resources, through the reduction in sanctions, that was it possible that Iran would siphon off a lot of these resources into more destabilizing activities,” Obama said. But the president said he was glad that the Gulf leaders were now giving their broad support for a comprehensive and verifiable deal to keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon, understanding that this also would be in their interest.


Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said late Thursday that his government would wait and follow the nuclear negotiations witih Iran before judging them. Obama and the GCC also promised to strengthen the moderate opposition in Syria, back the humanitarian truce in Yemen, and work for a two-state solution in Israel — although the president said the chances of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians appear "distant" right now.