Start of Gulf Cooperation Council meeting

(2 Aug 2015) Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council gathered in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday ahead of a meeting with US and Russian officials. The Arab officials are set to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov to discuss the recent deal on Iran's nuclear programme. The Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states fear Shiite Iran's increasing assertiveness in the region. The meeting is a follow-up on a May meeting that President Barack Obama hosted for Arab leaders at Camp David at which the US promised them enhanced security cooperation and expedited defence sales to guard against a potential Iranian threat. Saudi Arabia is the largest and most influential member of the council, which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and has been publicly supportive of the Iran deal, albeit with reservations. In addition to Iran, Kerry and the Arab ministers are expected to look closely at the situation in Syria and Iraq, which continue to be ravaged by conflict and the spread of the Islamic State extremist group, as well as Yemen. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/73c90ed5e9963913e6ef39a55ce24f0a

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