April 28 (Reuters) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chaired a consultative meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Tuesday, state media said, the first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became a front in the Iran war two months ago.
A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on February 28.
Saudi state media said the summit discussed “topics and issues related to regional and international developments, and the coordination of efforts regarding them.”
The Iran war has seen key energy infrastructure in all six GCC states damaged, with U.S.-linked firms and other civilian infrastructure, as well as military installations, also targeted.
Attacks have subsided since the U.S. and Iran entered a ceasefire on April 8, though Gulf capitals remain wary of resumed conflict, with U.S.-Iran talks for a permanent deal to end the conflict so far inconclusive.
Qatar’s emir, Kuwait’s crown prince, Bahrain’s king and the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister attended the summit, Saudi state media reported. It was unclear who represented Oman, the remaining member of the GCC along with Saudi Arabia, which hosts the council’s headquarters.
The GCC has faced some criticism from the UAE over what it said has been an inadequate response to the war.
“It is true that, logistically, the GCC countries supported each other, but politically and militarily, I think their position was the weakest in history,” senior UAE official Anwar Gargash told a conference in the UAE on Monday.
“I expected such a weak position from the Arab League, and I am not surprised by it, but I have not expected it from the GCC, and I am surprised by it.”
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Timour Azhari; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Aidan Lewis)
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