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President Barack Obama on Thursday said that leaders of Gulf allies at a summit have agreed that a comprehensive, verifiable deal that blocks Iran's pathway to a nuclear weapon would serve everyone's interests, reports The Associated Press (AP). .....

he New York Times reported late Wednesday that Saudi Arabia and other small Arab states were expected to make the case to Obama that they should be allowed to enrich whatever amount of nuclear material Iran is permitted to under the terms of a permanent deal that is due to be agreed on by the end of June. "We can’t sit back and be nowhere as Iran is allowed to retain much of its capability and amass its research," one Arab leader due to meet with Obama told The Times Monday. The paper also reported that Prince Turki bin Faisal,...

President Barack Obama pledged America’s “ironclad commitment” to anxious Persian Gulf nations Thursday to help protect their security, pointedly mentioning the potential use of military force and offering assurances that a potential nuclear agreement with Iran would not leave them more vulnerable. At the close of a rare summit at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Obama said the U.S. would join the Gulf Cooperation Council nations “to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity.” The U.S. pledged to bolster its security cooperation with the Gulf on counterterrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity and ballistic missile defense....

The Obama administration is likely to fall far short of the lofty goals it set for itself at Thursday’s summit with Gulf leaders, several experts on the region said. While the White House has framed the seven-nation meeting as an opportunity to deepen and strengthen Gulf nations’ security relationship with the United States in light of a possible nuclear deal with Iran, the six foreign leaders attending have set out bargaining chips that the administration has already shot down, and it’s not exactly clear what else, besides those tangible items, either side wants. “Something that actually offers a couple of...

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said today that if King Salman changing his mind against coming to Washington this week was supposed to send a message to the administration, “that message was not received.” Earnest insisted that “all the feedback that we’ve received from the Saudis has been positive.” The Saudi king, who was supposed to meet one-on-one with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday before a broader meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, initially RSVP’d “yes.” On Friday, he changed that to a “no.” Of the GCC states invited — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,

Hey Barack? Yes, Your Royal Majesty. Look, know what I said about coming to that thing at your place? Of course, oh Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Not going to make it--turns out I have to rearrange my stallion's sock drawer. On today's Morning Joe, Andrea Mitchell acknowledged the undeniable: that the last-minute decision by Saudi King Salman not to attend the White House summit, after previously having informed John Kerry that he would be there, was such an "in your face" snub, so embarrassing to Kerry and the Obama White House, that "I don't see any way that...

The U.S. is seeking a rapprochement with Iran over its nuclear program, potentially ending several decades of hostility. But while the U.S. is extending an open hand to Iran, other countries in the Middle East are casting a wary eye towards the negotiations. In fact, it is starting to appear that Gulf Arab states could be a major impediment to a final agreement over Iran’s nuclear program. Led by Saudi Arabia, many of the oil-producing members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are skeptical of, if not downright hostile towards Iran. With little trust between Iran and its Arab neighbors,...

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister insisted on Monday that King Salman's last minute decision not to attend a Camp David summit was not intended as a snub to the United States, AFP reported. The White House, meanwhile, said that the king spoke with President Barack Obama and "expressed his regret" for missing the summit. "This is not related in any way, shape or form to any disagreement between the two countries," Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters at Saudi Arabia's embassy Washington, according to AFP. On Sunday, Jubeir announced that King Salman would skip the May 14 summit of Persian Gulf...

Revelation that the guest list for Prince William’s wedding next year won’t include the Obamas has sparked a diplomatic crisis. Sources inside the US State Department confirm that President Obama is considering severing diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, a nation once held to be our closest ally. “This is a royal snub if you ask me,” said the President’s visibly angry Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “After all this country has done for the Brits—bailing them out in two World Wars, boosting the careers of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, adopting their language as our own—to be stabbed in the...

# American President left off the guest list as it is not a 'state occasion' # Royal couple eager to ask ordinary citizens to attend rather than VIPs # Heads of State who may attend include Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Brun Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339315/President-Obama-snubbed-sources-reveal-invited-Prince-Williams-wedding.html#ixzz18QbgHssz