Saudi Arabia’s MBS kicks off Gulf regional tour | Mohammed bin Salman News

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Mohammed bin Salman will visit Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait before annual GCC summit this month.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has embarked on a tour of Gulf Arab states ahead of an annual Gulf summit this month that comes amid crucial talks aimed at salvaging a nuclear pact between Iran and the West.

Prince Mohammed will visit Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported. Oman will be the first stop of the tour on Monday.

Qatar’s Amiri Diwan confirmed the Saudi royal will be arriving in Qatar on Wednesday, his first trip to the country since Riyadh and its allies imposed a blockade on Doha in mid-2017 which lasted until January this year.

Saudi diplomatic sources told German news agency DPA that the tour focuses on strengthening cooperation and coordination among the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in all fields such as security, defence, economy, trade, investment, energy and communications.

The tour, the sources said, will also discuss regional issues such as the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the political developments in Iraq in light of the recent parliamentary elections results, the situation in Syria and Libya, and the developments of the Palestinian cause.

Al Arabiya said the summit of Gulf Arab leaders would be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh in mid-December.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have engaged with longtime foe Iran in a bid to contain regional tensions as indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the nuclear pact drag.

In the latest round of talks in Vienna last week, Western powers questioned Iran’s determination to salvage the 2015 agreement, which Gulf states saw as flawed for not addressing Tehran’s missile programme and network of proxy forces in parts of the Middle East.

Then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, prompting Iran to begin moving away from commitments made in the agreement starting in 2019. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince starts his regional tour on the same day that the UAE’s top national security adviser visited Iran.



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