Kerry assures Gulf countries on Iran agreement

DOHA , Qatar, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Ministers of Persian Gulf countries approved the nuclear agreement with Iran after meeting in Doha, Qatar, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Speaking at a press conference with Kerry Monday, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah commented, "This was the best option among other options. We are confident that what they undertook makes this region safer and more stable. He let us know that there is going to be live oversight over Iran not to gain or to get any nuclear weapons. This is reassuring to the region."

He added Kerry had made it clear the United States would prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons in the agreement, in which Iran will proceed with peaceful nuclear development in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions.

Kerry met with representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Except for Oman, a crucial player in negotiations with Iran, each country had previously expressed reservations about the agreement, in particular the possibility Iran could use previously frozen funds to further destabilize nearby Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

Before leaving Qatar, Kerry met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to discuss the Syrian conflict. Russia has been supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, but recent gains in Syria by the Islamic State could prompt a more flexible attitude on calming the conflict without an insistence that Bashar remain in power.