(corrected rpt)
By Yasmie El-Sebawi
WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry, currently on a mission in the heavily troubled Middle East, is scheduled to sit at the table with GCC officials to talk about various regional thorny issues namely repercussions of the Iranian nuclear file and prospected coordination against terror groups, threats of which have been mounting.
Richard Murphy, a former US ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia, believes that Kerry, already in Cairo on the first leg of the regional mission, would address the GCC concerns about Iran's policy in the region following implementation of the recently-crafted nuclear deal with Western powers. He may intend to have "a newer and more difficult conversation" with America's Arab Gulf allies, one that entails going beyond an Iranian threat, or how further US weapons sales can counteract that threat, he told KUNA. Kerry will be in Doha, Qatar, on Monday to meet with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in what is widely believed to be a reassurance effort in light of the Iran nuclear deal. His trip follows President Barack Obama's Camp David summit in May, and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's visit to the region in July, both of which sought to reaffirm that the GCC still has the strong friendship - and security guarantees - of the United States. While the State Department has not mentioned Iran in previewing the trip, a senior administration official told reporters last week that it is ISIL and Syria that feature high on the agenda.
"[Kerry will] be very focused on the political and diplomatic line of effort, particularly with respect to Syria, which is critical because everybody agrees - and our partners agree to this - that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria. It has to be a political and diplomatic solution, and that is something that the Secretary will be focused on quite intensively," the official said.
The key player that has not been involved in any of the Syrian talks in Geneva thus far is Iran, as it continues to wage a proxy war in Syria by backing President Bashar Al-Assad with finances, munitions, and fighters. But while it is also strongly opposed to ISIL, its efforts in Syria have undermined the tremendous political capital invested by the Saudis in the country to empower the rebel forces and overthrow Assad. Iran-backed forces and their battles - currently in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen - have been a huge thorn in the side of the GCC - not necessarily Iran's nuclear program itself. "[The Gulf states] know they have assurances from the US against external aggression," Murphy said. "But the problem is they don't face external aggression. Iran won't attack a Gulf state," he added. ISIL is the "major threat right now," he affirmed. "It's time for very serious and focused discussions within the GCC as to how much the United States can be involved" and be "useful" in the campaign against the terror group, Murphy said.
Beside offering support by "advising on reforms and mobilizing energies of [youthful Gulf] populations," the Obama Administration cannot keep up its military intervention against ISIL in the region, he noted. "It has been easy to engage in talks about dealing with external aggressors and arms sales. To this we now need [to] add discussion of how to mobilize positive attitudes towards GCC regimes in the area and within their own borders that will counter the appeal of [ISIL]," Murphy told KUNA.
"This will involve raising topics traditionally seen as strictly internal matters in which the US has no right to involve itself," he added. Murphy explained that coordination between the Gulf countries is lacking when it comes to Syria, and though the US has been slow and ineffective to take action in that country, "it's easy to criticize, to fault [President Barack] Obama." "My impression is [that the Gulf countries] have not talked seriously together about what can be done and who to work with" when it comes to the Syrian factions involved in the conflict, he said.
He added that Monday's meeting should be an opportunity for the GCC to lay out the exact problems it sees in Syria, as well as those of the ISIL campaign, because "the United States does not have the answers." That, however, may prove to be far more complex of an idea, considering the variety of perspectives within the GCC itself.
The United States has been a key ally of the GCC states since many years ago. The regional countries, namely the GCC, face mounting challenges, have become much more worried about future security. Kerry's mission is viewed as part of Washington's assurances to its allies that it would stand on their sides in face of prospected threats Some GCC states, namely Saudi Arabia, have accused Iran of meddling in internal affairs in the regional countries, namely Yemen, which neighbors the kingdom. Riyadh also believes that the nuclear deal would encourage Tehran to maintain such approach. (end) ys.rk