The Gulf Cooperation Council called for the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo against Iran, an effort that dovetails with U.S. efforts to persuade Russia and China not to veto a resolution the Trump administration plans to introduce.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council sent Saturday and obtained by Bloomberg News, the Gulf Cooperation Council called on the Security Council to extend the embargo and "further impose any additional measures necessary to prevent the destabilizing proliferation of Iranian weapons, such as a targeted asset freeze and travel ban on individuals involved in the supply, sale or transfer of arms or related materiel to or from Iran."
Iran "has continued to proliferate weapons across the region as an integral part of its expansionist regional policy and longstanding interference in the internal affairs of Arab States, including Gulf Cooperation Council member states, in clear violation of the U.N. Charter," the group wrote. It was sent by Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf.
The letter is a rare show of unity from the group -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- in the three years since four of the states led by the Saudis severed diplomatic and trade dies with Qatar over accusations that it supported militant groups and had meddled in their internal affairs for years. Qatar denies the claims.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi condemned the letter and called it an "irresponsible" statement that serves U.S. interests, Iranian state TV reported.
Mousavi also criticized the Gulf Arab countries for being "among the largest arms buyers in the region and the world," even amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.N. banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports.
Iran's 2015 nuclear deal saw the U.N. agree to sunset the arms embargo this October. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, part of a maximum-pressure campaign that's hurt Iran's already-ailing economy and led to a series of escalating incidents in the Mideast.
Sunday's letter is the first significant joint statement released by the group since the rift, said a person familiar with the matter.
"Countries in the Middle East from the Gulf to Israel support extending the arms embargo," U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a tweet Sunday. "It is deeply important to every one of them. Arabs and Israelis are speaking with one voice and the Security Council must listen."
Gulf Cooperation Council members agreed to the letter after weeks of shuttle diplomacy by Brian Hook, the U.S. envoy for Iran, as the U.S. seeks to garner more outside support to extend the arms embargo. The U.S. is set to introduce a resolution at the Security Council this week to extend the embargo. Russia and China have indicated they'll oppose it, and as permanent members of the council their vetoes would sink the initiative.
"[Gulf Cooperation Council] unity on this issue sends a very strong message to the world, and the Security Council needs to listen to the region," Hook said in an emailed statement.
Hook, who's stepping down soon, argues that it's still possible Russia and China can be brought around. If they don't, the Security Council may be thrown into crisis, with the U.S. threatening to invoke a "snapback" provision in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to reimpose all U.N. sanctions against Tehran. The other members of the council oppose that idea.
Kuwait's prime minister said in June that there had been progress in resolving the Gulf Cooperation Council dispute, though previous such attempts failed. Some critics say the Trump administration shares blame in the dispute, accusing the president and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has close ties with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, of greenlighting the decision to cut ties with Qatar.
Information for this article was contributed by Nick Wadhams of Bloomberg News and by Jon Gambrell and Amir Vahdat of The Associated Press.