RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 31 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Persian Gulf foreign ministers Saturday brainstormed solutions to problems posed by Iran and Syria, officials said.
Clinton met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with representatives of nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as foreign ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. The meeting inaugurated a strategic alliance between the nations, which Clinton said would create "opportunities to pursue multilateral cooperation on shared challenges, including terrorism, nuclear proliferation and piracy."
The Wall Street Journal reported Clinton confirmed a meeting for April 13-14 in Istanbul between Iranian negotiators and world leaders, after warning that the door was closing for Iran to resolve the dispute over their nuclear program.
"It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious, credible discussion about their nuclear program," Clinton said. "So far they have given little reason for confidence. What is certain is that Iran's window to do so will not remain open forever."
The second issue on the table was the violence in Syria, and strategies for how to end the regime of President Bashar Assad. Clinton made it clear her priority was achieving a cease-fire, rather than providing more arms to the region.
The visit came just a day after the United Arab Emirates announced the closure of the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute. Neither U.A.E. officials nor U.S. State Department officials provided an explanation for shutting down the institute. The New York Times reported Clinton said, "we very much regret it" when asked about it during a news conference.
