Rubio heads to UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain to discuss Iran deal with Gulf allies

ABU DHABI: US secretary of state Marco Rubio will travel Tuesday through Thursday to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, on a trip that will give the Trump administration a chance to sell its preliminary Iran accord directly to Gulf Arab allies.

While in Bahrain, Rubio will also meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, a grouping of six Sunni monarchies that also includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, state department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Monday.

While GCC leaders have broadly supported efforts to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, many are disconcerted by the specific terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that US President Donald Trump signed last week.

One point of particular concern among regional officials is the possibility of a US$300 billion reconstruction fund for Tehran, which Gulf leaders assume the Islamic Republic will use to rebuild its military capacity, while funding regional proxy groups. The MoU’s failure to address Iran’s ballistic missile program is worrying Washington’s Gulf allies, who have been buffeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks in recent months.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar all host US military bases that in turn make up the backbone of America’s security architecture in the Middle East. Should any of those countries rethink their security relationship with the US, even in a subtle way, it could have a significant impact on US military strategy in the region.

The Rubio trip comes amid a broader flurry of Iran-related diplomacy. On Wednesday, Trump signed the Iran MoU – which starts a 60-day clock for Washington and Tehran to reach a more comprehensive agreement – while visiting French President Emmanuel Macron in Versailles.

Over the weekend, a team of US negotiators led by vice-president JD Vance attended talks mediated by Qatari and Pakistani officials in Switzerland. The first round of those talks concluded on Monday, and technical discussions are expected to continue through the week.

Details of Rubio’s trip, such as the precise timing of his visits to the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain and the list of leaders and officials he is due to meet, were not immediately available.

In the statement, Pigott said Rubio, who also serves as the White House national security advisor, would “discuss a range of regional priorities including the memorandum of understanding with Iran, efforts to secure full and free safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the importance of peace and stability in the region.”