US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was holding talks in Riyadh on Wednesday with Saudi King Abdullah, with both sides concerned by Iranian intentions in the region and spiralling unrest in Yemen. "Iran will be a major focus of their conversations, both in terms of the regional threat they pose but also lately in the role they've been playing in trying to exploit the unrest in the region to their advantage," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said ahead of the meeting.
And although Washington and Riyadh have had differences over their responses to the wave of Arab uprisings, Morrell said that "the secretary has developed and enjoys an excellent relationship with King Abdullah." Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have traded accusations with Iran of meddling and interference, especially over the tiny Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority kingdom of Bahrain that lies to Saudi Arabia's east, and is a key US ally and home to the US Fifth Fleet.
Saudi Arabia led a joint Gulf force that deployed there last month, enabling Bahraini authorities to quell Shiite-led protests calling for democratic reforms. On Sunday, foreign ministers from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), of which Saudi Arabia is a leading member, accused Iran of interference in the affairs of Bahrain and Kuwait in a campaign to destabilise the region.
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