Senior US Officials Are Meeting With Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh
A delegation of senior officials from the Biden administration arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to participate in the US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Working Group meetings, scheduled to last until Thursday. The delegation includes officials from the Pentagon, State Department and the National Security Council. The delegation is headed by Robert Malley, the United States Special Representative for Iran, and the topic of Iran will be on the agenda during the visit, the US State Department has said.
“These meetings will demonstrate the United States and GCC members’ shared commitment to advancing regional security and stability through cooperation across a range of issues,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Monday during a briefing with journalists. Regarding the United States’ fraught relationship with Saudi Arabia, Price said, “when it comes to our relationship with Saudi Arabia, we have multiple interests. We have important work to accomplish with our Saudi partners. We are focused on pursuing and forging and crafting and operationalizing a bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that serves the interests of the American people, that serves the interests of the United States, and that serves the purpose of a more integrated, more stable, more prosperous, more opportunity-filled Middle East.”
The discussions of the working groups at the meeting were scheduled to include integrated air and missile defense, maritime security, and counterterrorism, as well as the continued threat from Iran. This week’s meetings were put off from October, when they were postponed by the US over anger with a decision by OPEC+ members to cut oil output despite worldwide shortages and price hikes due to the Russian war on Ukraine.
