Kerry in Riyadh to reassure allies over Iran
04:20PM Sun 24 Jan, 2016
Riyadh (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Saudi Arabia, sought Saturday to reassure Gulf allies concerned about a perceived warming of ties between Washington and Iran.
He also announced that the Syria Support Group of 20 nations and organisations will meet "very shortly" to help push peace in the war-ravaged country.
Kerry spoke in Riyadh after meeting his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and other foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
"The United States remains concerned about some of the activities that Iran is engaged in in other countries," Kerry told reporters, citing as an example Iran's "support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah" in Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours perceive a lack of US engagement in the region, particularly in the face of what they see as Iran's "interference" in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.
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