US Defense Secretary: Washington is keen to continue relations with the GCC States

JEDDAH- U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stressed that the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Member States have historical and defense relations, pointing out that Washington is keenness to continue these relations.

In a press statement following the first consultative meeting of the GCC Joint Defense Council, Hagel said that the two sides face same security challenges in the region, “there is a joint cooperation in this field and we seek to develop it and adopt some proposals in the interest of us and the regional stability,” the US Secretary of Defense added.

Hagel added that “today’s meeting focused on the joint tasks regarding maintaining stability. We have committed this matter in order to maintain and prohibit Iran to develop its nuclear capabilities as nuclear weapon but only for peaceful uses.”
Regarding Syria, the US Defense Secretary said that the two sides agreed that there will be a productive cooperation regarding assistance to the Syrian opposition.

“We agreed to develop proposals regarding the final agreement between the United States and the GCC countries in addition to cooperation among the GCC states. We have made some progress in this matter and focused on improving the leadership of the United States of America in order to participate in helping its partners in the region here and around the world in order to build their own interests and the common interests and face common challenges as well,” Hagel said.

He pointed out that the meeting will be held before the end of this year in Washington to discuss the ideas of the today’s meeting, stressing that the United States is committed to the adoption of a military cooperation in the Middle East and “thus we still commit to this region and its security and stability.”-SPA