Obama Seeks to Repair Rocky Relationships in Gulf

President Barack Obama was holding talks Thursday with leaders from the six-nation bloc of Persian Gulf countries in an effort to repair relations and bridge differences over issues ranging from Iran to the fight against terror.

During the summit in the Saudi capital, Mr. Obama was expected to reassure the Gulf Cooperation Council that the U.S. remains committed to supporting the security and sovereignty of its Gulf partners.

But with deep divisions between Washington and Gulf governments over how to calm sectarian tensions and respond to Iranian aggression, the president was also expected to face frustration toward the U.S. and its evolving approach to the region.

Mr. Obama and leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman were expected to spend about four hours working their way through an ambitious agenda that includes Iran, ongoing regional conflicts and the fight against Islamic State and al Qaeda. The president was scheduled to deliver a statement at the conclusion of the talks and then depart for London.

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David Andrew Weinberg, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Thursday’s talks were unlikely to resolve gaps in trust between the U.S. and Gulf allies.

“Diplomacy and summitry of this sort typically depends on leaders being able to put on a happy face and say they had a great meeting with their counterparts,” he said. “That’s going to be tough this time around.”

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