Gulf Arab states said on Wednesday it would be dangerous to separate global powers' nuclear deal with Iran from Tehran's missile program and "destabilizing" behavior, and reiterated a call that they be included in the dialogue.
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World powers and Iran entered a sixth round of talks in Vienna on Saturday to revive the 2015 nuclear pact, which Saudi Arabia and its allies opposed for not tackling their concerns and which the United States abandoned in 2018 over to Iranian regional belligerence and support for internationally recognized terrorist organizations.
Tehran has opposed any attempt to add other issues to the deal, under which it agreed to curbs its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. US President Joe Biden wants to restore the deal abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump.
Gulf state foreign ministers urged the powers to secure a deal with stronger restrictions and longer duration and to "link it with practical steps to build trust" in order to prevent an arms race and further conflict in the region.
In a statement following a meeting in Riyadh, they said Gulf states should be involved in global negotiations with Tehran and were ready to "cooperate and deal seriously and effectively with the Iranian nuclear file ... on the basis of respect for sovereignty and good neighborliness."
The statement stressed "the danger of separating implications of the nuclear deal" from Iran's missile program and support for regional proxies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and armed militias in Iraq and Syria, and urged Tehran to engage seriously with talks and avoid escalations.
Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which severed ties in 2016, began direct talks in Iraq in April aimed at containing tensions.
They are locked in a rivalry that has played out across the region, including in Yemen where a military coalition led by Riyadh has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement for more than six years.
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