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Iran, Yemen, maritime safety top GCC 40th summit agenda

(Curtain raiser) RIYADH, Dec 10 (KUNA) -- The Saudi capital is hosting later today the GCC Supreme Council 40th session amidst critical and complex regional and global circumstances.
The relationship with Iran and the situation in Yemen, as well as the Gulf maritime safety and security are among the most key issues to be addressed during the session.
Leaders of the Gulf bloc are also expected to table and attempt to thoroughly look into other pressing challenges, as well as genuinely attempt to safeguard the region's political, economic, security and social interests, especially with signs of mending the political rift among member states are in the air.
Kuwait remains "optimistic" in its bid to support resolving the dispute between Gulf neighbors, is what Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said last night relating to the issue, adding that reconciliation efforts are looking "positive." "We are not at all concerned about the environment that is accompanying the efforts to end the dispute, and we are optimistic that this dispute will be something of the past in the near future," the Kuwaiti official said.
Al-Jarallah, also last night, headed Kuwait's delegation to the GCC foreign ministers 'in camera' 145th preparatory meeting in Riyadh, which concluded by forwarding recommendation to the GCC Supreme Council session, slated for today.
On his part, GCC Secretary General Abdulatif Al-Zayani said that holding the 40th summit is "clear evidence" of the leaders' keenness on preserving the bloc's intactness. His remarks came after being received by King Salman of Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia yesterday.
On the summit's agenda, he said it is packed with political, economic, defense-related and legal issues and items, as well as discussions over recent regional and international developments.
The common GCC market, the customs' union, the monetary union, the electricity grid and authorities of economic, developmental and judicial affairs are among the major achievements attained throughout the Council's history, Al-Zayani noted. Pan-GCC trade volume reached USD 147 billion in 2018, compared to USD six billion in 2003.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is heading the State of Kuwait's delegation to the GCC Supreme Council 40th session.
This is the second time in a row that Saudi Arabia hosts the summit, and the its ninth since the Council's inception in 1981. (end) mdm.amn.hb