MANAMA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 The Gulf states must be\u00a0consulted\u00a0if a US nuclear agreement with Iran is revived, Saudi Arabia said Saturday, warning it is the only path towards a sustainable agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President-elect Joe Biden has signalled he will return the United States to a nuclear accord with Iran and that he still backed the 2015 deal negotiated under Barack Obama, from which Donald Trump withdrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A return to the agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would delight US allies in Europe, but concern the Gulf states, who have criticised US engagement with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden has indicated he will bring Iran\u2019s US-allied Arab neighbours, such as Saudi Arabia, which sees Iran as its arch-rival, into the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrimarily what we expect is that we are fully consulted, that we and our other regional friends are fully consulted in what goes on vis a vis the negotiations with Iran,\u201d Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only way towards reaching an agreement that is sustainable is through such consultation,\u201d he said on the sidelines of a security conference in Bahrain\u2019s Manama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve seen as a result of the after effects of the JCPOA that not involving the regional countries results in a build up of mistrust and neglect of the issues of real concern and of real effect on regional security.\u201d Asked whether the Biden administration was already in touch about the shape of a revived Iran deal, Prince Faisal said there were no contacts as yet, but that \u201cwe are ready to engage with the Biden administration once they take office\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are confident that both an incoming Biden administration, but also our other partners, including the Europeans, have fully signed on to the need to have all the regional parties involved in a resolution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– \u2018JCPOA plus plus\u2019 –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Germany said in recent days that a new, broader Iran nuclear accord must be reached to also rein in Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile programme, warning that the 2015 deal was no longer enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, talked of a \u201cnuclear agreement plus\u201d, in language also deployed by the Saudi minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about a revived JCPOA, although one may look to a JCPOA plus plus, something well beyond the JCPOA,\u201d Prince Faisal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause reviving the \u00a0JCPOA as it exists now will only bring us to the point where we were, which is a deficient agreement that doesn\u2019t address the full issues related to Iran\u2019s nuclear activities and other original activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi Arabia has been targeted with dozens of ballistic missile and drone attacks since the start of last year, including a devastating strike on Aramco\u2019s facilities in the country\u2019s east, which temporarily knocked out half the kingdom\u2019s crude output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That strike was claimed by the Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is fighting a grinding five-year conflict to back the internationally recognised government, but the United States said it involved cruise missiles from Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prince Faisal said the JCPOA was too short in its 10 to 15 year timeframe, and apart from the issue of its missile programme and support for proxy groups around the region, did not do enough to address the risk of proliferation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we\u2019ve seen by the Iranian ability now to quickly increase its capacity to increase its enriched uranium stockpiles, such a short timeframe was not enough to contain Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Saudi Arabia looks ahead to building a relationship with the incoming US administration, Prince Faisal said he was confident Biden\u2019s pledge to turn the kingdom into a \u201cpariah\u201d over its human rights failings was just election talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think electioneering brings out all kinds of comments, and I\u2019ll leave them at that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister also indicated the kingdom would maintain relations with Trump — after four years of extremely warm ties, notably between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe kingdom always remembers its friends,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd of course we will continue to have, I\u2019m sure, friendly contacts with President Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANAMA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 The Gulf states must be\u00a0consulted\u00a0if a US nuclear agreement with Iran is revived, Saudi Arabia said Saturday, warning it is the only path towards a sustainable agreement. President-elect Joe Biden has signalled he will return the United States to a nuclear accord with […]<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1533,1532,1350,308,1534],"class_list":["post-2307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-world-news","tag-consulted","tag-gulf-states","tag-iran","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-us-nuclear-deal"],"yoast_head":"\n