Saudi FM says US-Gulf summit to focus on ‘aggressive’ Iran

Dubai: Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said a summit between Gulf Arab leaders and US President Barack Obama on Thursday will focus on Iran’s “aggressive” moves in the Middle East, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and a key US ally for decades, has expressed concern at the rise of Iran’s armed allies in sectarian conflicts throughout the region and Washington’s perceived unwillingness to intervene.

“We see Iranian support for terrorist organisations and facilitating the work of terrorist organisations, so the challenge will be in how to coordinate US-Gulf efforts in order to collectively face these aggressive moves on the part of Iran,” Al Jubeir said, according to SPA.

Riyadh announced on Sunday that King Salman would not attend the summit, a move widely perceived as a snub to the Obama administration as it pursues a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Al Jubeir said the summit would focus on conflicts in Syria and Iraq and also on the fighting in Yemen, where a Saudi-led alliance of Gulf Arab nations is bombing the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that control much of Yemen.

A five-day truce due to start on Tuesday in Yemen could be extended if “(aid deliveries) succeeded and if the Houthis and their allies don’t engage in hostile activities,” he said.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday that a technical fault or human error caused the crash of a Moroccan warplane in Yemen, denying that rebel fire was responsible.

“We are definitely sure it wasn’t shot down,” Brigadier General Ahmad Al Assiri, the coalition spokesman said.

He said the F-16 pilot, who remains missing, was part of a formation, and other aircraft “did not notice any firing from the ground”.

Yemen’s Al Houthi militia said on Monday it had shot down a coalition warplane, shortly after Morocco reported one of its fighters missing on a sortie.

It was the first coalition aircraft to have been reported missing over Yemen in the more than six-week bombing campaign launched on March 26.

Meanwhile, an Iranian naval commander was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday that Iranian warships will accompany a cargo ship bound for the Yemeni port of Hodaida, which is held Al Houthis.

The Iran-flagged Iran Shahed cargo ship set sail on Monday and could be intercepted by Saudi-led coalition forces.