LOC23:09
20:09 GMT
(With POL-SAUDI-GCC-US)
RIYADH, March 5 (KUNA) -- Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and US Secretary of State John Kerry have both expressed mutual views on most of the region's issues, along with their keenness to resume talks on resolving them.
Prince Saud described the meeting in Riyadh as "constructive" and being "characterized by depth and transparency."
At a press conference after the talks, he said they discussed a broad range of topics, namely "Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and other regional and international developments."
Discussions also focused on the international coalition's war on Islamic State militants (formerly known as ISIL) Iran's nuclear issue and the Middle East peace process, he added.
Addressing Syria, he said the four-year crisis there has "exceeded human suffering and has made the country a safe haven for terrorist groups."
He urged the need to implement the Geneva I agreement for the peaceful transfer of power, and to work to support the moderate opposition in order to "fight terrorism and expel the occupiers."
The Saudi foreign minister expressed his nation's support of the six world powers' (P5+1) efforts to resolve Iran's nuclear issue on a peaceful basis.
He said that the matter is being handled with "assurances and enough assessment preventing it from transforming into a military programme that threatens the security of the region and leads it into a nuclear arms race."
The international community, he said, aims to prevent Iran from manufacturing a nuclear weapon but this does not mean that other matters will be ignored.
Saying this, he went on to accuse Iran of carrying out "actions that threaten the security and stability of countries in the region," and "interfering in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and lastly, Yemen."
He said he hopes Iran becomes "a part of the solution of crises, rather than a part of the problem.
"Iran is a neighbor towards whom nobody bares any animosity. But if it continues to intervene in internal affairs (of other nations) it will position itself against Arab interests and international principles," he warned.
Shifting to Yemen, he said that Gulf Cooperation Council states and the international community back President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi as the legitimate leader of the country, along with any decisions he had made before being recently overthrown in a coup d'etat by Houthi rebels.
He also dubbed decisions made by the Houthis, who are currently controlling Yemen, as illegitimate.
The Saudi foreign minister also hoped that efforts to reengage Palestinian-Israeli peace talks "result in just and permanent peace that resolves the struggle according to the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions.
He said that currently these efforts are not seeing the light due to "Israel's stubbornness" and its "continued building of settlements and breach of the Palestinian people's rights."
For his part, US Secretary of State Kerry said his country was committed to seeing an agreement with Iran, on its nuclear programme, that leads to resolving many issues and eases the scale of anxiety in the region.
After having earlier attended talks with counterparts from all six GCC states, including Kuwait, he said he had briefed them on his recent meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Switzerland, and what was expected from these discussions in the coming period.
Efforts will focus on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and ensuring that its current programme is a peaceful one that does not pose any future threat, he said.
He also said the US was committed to resolving other matters with Iran, he said, accusing Tehran of supporting terrorism in the region.
On Yemen, he expressed hope that a peaceful agreement is reached there on the basis of the GCC Initiative and a national dialogue, and welcomed the release of a Saudi diplomat, who was held hostage in Yemen by Al-Qaeda militants. (end)
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