Kerry in Saudi Arabia to calm nerves over Iran deal
US Secretary of State John Kerry has reassured Saudi Arabia’s King Salman that an emerging nuclear deal with Iran would not pose any danger to the monarchy.
The top US diplomat arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he participated in negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Before heading to Saudi Arabia, Kerry told reporters in Montreux that he and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had concluded three days of "intense" talks.
"We've made some progress from where we were and important choices need to be made," he stated.
Kerry also met Thursday with foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to ease their concerns about the progressing nuclear talks with Iran and discuss ways to bring stability to Yemen.
Kerry said the US was seeking to reach a nuclear deal with Iran but not a “grand bargain,” adding that Washington was keeping an eye on what he called Iran’s “destabilizing” acts in the region.
US officials said Kerry will tell the Persian Gulf Arab states that regardless of the outcome of the nuclear talks, Washington will confront what they described as "Iranian expansion" and "aggressiveness" in the Middle East region, the Associated Press reports.
Kerry’s visit to Saudi Arabia came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the United States not to negotiate “a very bad deal” with Iran.
Speaking at a joint session of the US Congress in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Netanyahu said, “We’ve been told for over a year that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal, a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”
US President Barack Obama dismissed Netanyahu’s address to Congress, saying, "as far as I can tell, there was nothing new" in the speech.
"We don't yet have a deal. But if we are successful, this will be the best deal possible with Iran,” he said.
Iran and the P5+1 group - Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – are negotiating to narrow their differences over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program ahead of a July 1 deadline.
HRJ/HRJ
US House to vote on long-awaited assistance for Ukraine
‘We do not seek conflict with Iran,’ says Pentagon chief
Biden tells Netanyahu US will not take part in Israel's counterattack on Iran
Iran hit Israeli military, intelligence bases linked to Syria attack: FM
VIDEO | Israel Gaza aggression
How Iranian missiles and drones evaded Israel’s much-hyped air defenses
70,000 pro-Palestine people in UK urge London to end arms exports to Israel
VIDEO | Gaza, Hezbollah, and decline of Zionism
Iran Greco-Roman wrestlers win Asian championship
Gaza authorities slam Israel for torturing Palestinian children
Putin: Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel best way to punish aggressor
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
