Rubio tells Gulf allies that Iran deal will ensure their security

Rubio’s Gulf tour is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US-Iran framework agreement last week.

The United States’ top diplomat has told allies in the Gulf that any deal to end the US-Iran war would account for their security interests.

Speaking at a meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers and officials in Bahrain on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was seeking an enduring peace with long-time foe Iran that would not undermine the security and prosperity of its allies in the oil-rich region.

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Rubio’s three-day tour of the Gulf is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US and Iran agreed a Memorandum of Understanding to extend their ceasefire and to hold talks on a permanent end to the more than 100-day war, which started on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He acknowledged the delicacy of his mission as he seeks to win over Gulf Arab leaders wary that excessive concessions could strengthen Tehran and reshape the region’s security balance and oil flows.

In Manama, he told leaders from Bahrain that the US wants to ensure agreement with Iran takes into account the “interest of allies”.

He added: “We are open for peace that is enduring and real and doesn’t undermine security and prosperity for the US or its allies”.

At his previous stops in the United Arab Emirates ‌and Kuwait, Rubio sought to assure officials that the proposed deal ‌was not overly favourable to Iran, which attacked several Gulf states during the war.

“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” he told reporters in Kuwait.

The draft US-Iran agreement includes no limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles, a proposed $300bn reconstruction fund and provisions that could expand Tehran’s regional influence and control over critical oil shipping lanes.

Rubio has said he would not be asking regional allies to contribute to any reconstruction fund during the trip, even as the MoU with Iran suggests that countries in the region would at least be partially responsible for footing the bill.