Dubai: Iran is to hold talks with the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Syria and Yemen in September, a high ranking Iranian foreign ministry official has said.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossain Amir-Abdollahian told ISNA on Friday that the initiative to hold a common meeting between Iran and Arab nations about the regional crisis came from Qatar and Oman, Trend news agency reported. The meeting will be held on September 22.
There have been no comments from the GCC in this regard so far, but Oman’s foreign minister Yousuf Bin Alawi said in an interview on state television after Iran signed a nuclear agreement with world powers last month that a meeting between Iran, Gulf states “and other countries” could take place before the end of the year.
“It is possible that by the end of the year, there will be direct talks between the states of the GCC and Iran, as well as other parties … to entrench the idea of security and stability in the region. This can be achieved with a clear agreement in which no one [comes out] defeated…,” he had said.
Abdollahian said on Friday that talks with Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would be held in a country in the region or a neutral location.
The reports come amid intensified regional diplomatic activity with regards to the civil war in Syria. Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have all been involved with peace initiatives and shuttling between regional capitals to find a solution. Iran expects to put forward to the United Nations its own peace initiative for Syria in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Iran-allied Al Houthi militia has faced significant setbacks in the face of fighter groups allied to Gulf-backed Yemeni exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
