Kerry Discusses Ballistic Missile Defense with Gulf Cooperation Council

State Dept photo(DOHA, Qatar) — Leading Gulf Arab States say they are onboard with the Iran nuclear deal after Secretary of State John Kerry offered U.S. support for a regional ballistic missile defense system.

Kerry met with wary foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, six Sunni-ruled Arab nations concerned about Shiite Iran’s assertiveness in the region, Monday in Doha.

Speaking after the meeting, Kerry said the U.S. will expedite arms transfers and offer special forces training and work with the nations to combat terror groups in Syria and Iraq.

“We focused on a wide range of very specific regional challenges, including the fight against Daesh, al Qaeda, other violent extremists,” he said.

“We discussed for example, our work on an integrative ballistic missile defense capability and expediting certain arms transfers. We also discussed enhancing our cooperation on combating violent extremism,” he added.

Last week the State Department authorized the sale of $5.4 billion in anti-ballistic missiles and another $500 million in ammunition to Saudi Arabia, one of the GCC nations.

“We agreed to talk about how to integrate the region’s anti-ballistic missile defenses based on some of the activities in other countries,” Kerry said.

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