(Washington) The United States and its Arab Gulf allies on Wednesday sent a joint warning to Iran, accused of “causing a nuclear crisis” and destabilizing the Middle East with its ballistic missiles and drones.
“All participants urged the new Iranian government to seize the diplomatic opportunity” linked to the Vienna negotiations to save the Iran nuclear deal “in order to prevent conflict and crisis,” said Washington and the Cooperation Council of the Gulf (GCC) in a joint statement, following a meeting in Riyadh of their working group on Iran.
These indirect negotiations between the Americans and the Iranians, suspended since the election in June of a new president in Iran, must resume at the end of November. They aim to revive the 2015 agreement supposed to prevent Tehran from gaining access to the atomic bomb, which the United States withdrew in 2018, resulting in the violation by the Islamic Republic of many limits to its nuclear program.
“Iran has taken steps which do not meet any civilian need but which could prove to be important for a nuclear weapons program”, lamented the representatives of the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, from Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.
These countries also condemned the “aggressive and dangerous policies” attributed to Tehran, including “the proliferation and direct use of advanced ballistic missiles” and drones.
“Iran’s support for armed militias across the region and its ballistic missile program pose a clear threat to security and stability,” they warned.
Some Gulf countries, such as Qatar and Oman, are often seen as channels used by the United States to communicate with Iran.
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni kingdom fiercely opposed to Shia Iran, also recently began a discreet but noticeable dialogue with its neighbor under the auspices of Iraq.
These Gulf countries have “informed” Washington “of their efforts to build effective diplomatic channels with Iran” in order to promote a de-escalation of tensions, with the support of American military deterrence.
Participants in the meeting dangled the Islamic Republic with the benefits of improved relations with its Arab neighbors and the lifting of US sanctions if the Vienna negotiations are successful.
But “these diplomatic efforts will fail if Iran continues to provoke a nuclear crisis” also warned the United States and the GCC.