US Secretary of State John Kerry met with ministers of the Gulf Arab monarchies in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, to offer reassurance of Washington´s loyalty, despite a deal reached with Iran.
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“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists”, Kerry said in an interview with CNBC at Davos, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to CNN.
This includes Iran’s “support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah” in Lebanon, which, Kerry says, obtains most of its arms from Iran.
Kerry, who spoke in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, after attending a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir on Saturday, said the Saudi decision to launch airstrikes in Yemen was aimed at dealing with the Ansarullah movement and al-Qaeda operatives in the Arab country. “But we don’t believe that that is what has made the difference in the activities of Iran in the region”.
Those feelings crystallized with the historic global deal which this month lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.
However, the USA official said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statement of regret this week over the embassy storming, which Riyadh accused Tehran of tacitly encouraging, was “significant”.
A fifth American held in Iran was also freed Saturday, but his family has said he was released separately from the agreement that led to the release of the other four USA citizens, which included jailed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian.
“There is something that does bring them closer in terms of Syria, and that is called Daesh”, he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “If we catch them funding terrorism, they’re going to have a problem in the U.S. Congress and [with] other people, obviously”.
“That was, I think, from our perspective extremely noteworthy”, the State Department official said.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran on January 3 following demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters censuring the Al Saud family for the killing of Sheikh Nimr.
Mohammed Alloush, whom a Saudi-backed Syrian opposition council named chief negotiator Wednesday, said the talks can not begin unless blockades and attacks on civilians are halted.
“Israel was facing a country that is in position to Israel and Israel’s existence that was moving towards a nuclear weapon and moving at a rate that was disturbing”, Kerry said.
“If it continues to do so, then Muslim states would have no option but to take more measures against Iran”.
Kerry said he was confident Syria peace talks would proceed.
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“We must deepen the fight against corruption – making it a first-order, national-security priority”, he said, noting that it was imperative that the business community demand higher standards of behaviour in dealings with governments.
