WASHINGTON — Persian Gulf nation leaders Wednesday gathered in Washington to warn President Barack Obama of the risks of completing a nuclear deal with Iran. Obama will try to convince them of the potential benefits for the region.
But when two days of talks wrap up Thursday, it’s unlikely much will have changed. The Gulf’s deep-seated skepticism of Iran extends far beyond its nuclear pursuits. Obama, meanwhile, has invested too much in the Iran negotiations to let Gulf concerns upend his legacy-building bid for a deal.
“My guess is that the summit is going to leave everybody feeling a little bit unsatisfied,” said Jon Alterman, the Middle East director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The White House is expected to offer the Gulf nations more military assistance, including increased joint exercises and coordination on ballistic missile systems. But Gulf requests for a formal defense treaty have been denied by the U.S., in part because of the difficulty of getting such an agreement approved by Congress.
Obama met separately Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The president had planned to meet with Saudi King Salman, but the kingdom announced during the weekend that the monarch would no longer travel to Washington and would instead send the lower-ranking but highly influential princes. The White House and Saudi officials insist the king was not snubbing Obama.
The president made no mention of Saudi skepticism of the Iran talks as he opened the meeting but acknowledged the region is in the midst of a “very challenging time.”
