US and GCC Countries Accuse Iran of "Posing Threat" to Region

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Senior US officials and members of the GCC held a meeting on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Council in Riyadh, within the framework of the "Working Group on Iran."

The working group was established during the meeting that gathered US foreign ministers and the GCC countries on September 23 in New York.

In a statement, the participants welcomed the upcoming seventh round of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiations in Vienna and called on the Iranian administration "to seize the current diplomatic opportunity to prevent conflict and crisis."

The US-Gulf statement claimed that "Iran’s support to armed militias across the region and its ballistic missile program poses a clear threat to regional security and stability."

"Iran’s nuclear program is of grave concern, as Iran has taken steps for which it has no civilian need, but that would be important to a nuclear weapons program," the statement wrote.

"The US and GCC condemned a range of aggressive and dangerous Iranian policies, including the proliferation and direct use of advanced ballistic missiles and Unmanned Aircraft Systems... [They] agreed that Iran’s nuclear program is of grave concern..."https://t.co/EPlGIizMzr

— Shalom Lipner (@ShalomLipner) November 17, 2021

The joint statement argued that "these diplomatic efforts will not succeed if Iran continues to provoke a nuclear crisis," and that "deeper economic ties after the lifting of US sanctions under the JCPOA are in the mutual interest of the region."

The participants concluded that full compliance with the JCPOA "would help pave the way for inclusive diplomatic efforts."