by Our Foreign Desk

GULF Arab states yesterday welcomed the nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and world powers but expressed fears over a resurgent Tehran.

Speaking following meetings between the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and US Secretary of State John Kerry, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiya said the Gulf states were reassured.

Mr Kerry “let us know that there is a going to be live oversight over Iran,” Mr Attiya said. “This is reassuring to the region.”

He added that Gulf states ultimately want a ban on nuclear weapons across the Middle East — a pointed jab at Israel which refuses to come clean on its nukes — and that the Iran deal could be the first step in that direction.

At the same time, Mr Attiya said GCC members were concerned about Iran’s plans.

Mr Kerry said the US would further enmesh itself with Gulf militaries to counter what he called destabilising activities by Iran or others.

Mr Kerry later met separately with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Doha to discuss the five-year civil war in Syria.

The meeting was significant since Russia has blocked US military intervention in Syria at the UN, while the US and Saudi Arabia have funded and trained Syrian rebel militias trying to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad.