Arab states of the Persian Gulf step up diplomacy with Iran

Monday’s meeting in Tehran was the first high-level contact between Iran and the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement nations — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye — since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, Al Jazeera English reported. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman attended, days after Houthi strikes on Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi separately called at the University of Cambridge for a regional security framework including a non-aggression pact between the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Iran, with the US no longer the primary security provider.

Reuters reported that Qatari mediators presented Iran with a draft deal on Sunday, and later quoted Iranian officials as saying Qatar had put forward unacceptable ideas and Tehran would show no flexibility on the nuclear issue. Analysts told Al Jazeera that a lasting regional security framework is unlikely, citing mistrust and a fundamental disagreement over the sequence of commitments; Iran has long sought a regional order reducing the US military presence, while the Arab states of the Persian Gulf remain integrated into the US security system, they said.