Dismissing security concerns of the other countries in the region following a possible nuclear deal with Iran, the US has ruled out any type of regional arms race in the Middle East.
"There will be no need to see the type of regional arms race that would make an already volatile part of the world that much more unstable and insecure," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said on the sidelines of a summit with the members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).
"We are able to provide very clear assurance that the nuclear deal is about a specific issue, that if Iran did have a nuclear weapon and a nuclear weapon capability, its destabilising actions would be that much more dangerous because they'd have a nuclear umbrella," he said yesterday.
"We are aiming to resolve that issue diplomatically, but at the same time our concerns will be just as acute the day after an agreement about those other activities," Rhodes said.
He said the US has huge global support for the agreement.
"These are some of our closest partners in the region, though we want them to understand what's in the deal because we are committed to their security, and we cooperate on the security and stability of the region," he said.
"At the same time, we need to be working together to deal with a range of other threats and challenges as well. So, the nuclear deal is a part of this, but it's only one part of a much broader conversation," the Obama confidant said.
Rhodes said the US would say to every country that Iran is not the model to follow in pursuing a nuclear program.
"We would say to these countries, we don't want to see any type of arms race in the region. If there is an interest in nuclear power, which some of these countries have had, there are established means of accessing that power," Rhodes said.
"Our view is what we don't want to see in the region and why we're pursuing a nuclear deal is we don't want to see a nuclear arms in what is already the most volatile part of the world," he said.
"A deal with Iran should make these GCC partners more confident that Iran is further away from a nuclear weapon and that there're inspections that can verify that. They should work through the long-established means of accessing nuclear energy if that's something they wish to do," Rhodes added.
President Barack Obama and the leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain opened their talks with a private dinner yesterday at the White House.
