The Heat discusses U.S.-Arab Gulf relations

The Heat

U.S. President Obama met this week with high- level officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. King Salman of Saudi Arabia was also scheduled to attend but cancelled at the last minute. The summit was supposed to ease concerns among America’s Gulf allies over a nuclear deal the U.S. hopes to achieve with Iran and instability in the region.

President Obama offered assurances of more military assistance and co-operation to help the GCC nations defend against any external attack. And, he indicated that progress was made towards acceptance of a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

The Heat began it’s discussion with Hillary Mann Leverett, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University and co-author of “Going to Tehran. Why America must accept the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Joining the Heat from Jeddah was Khaled Batarfi. He is a journalist and he’s also an assistant professor at the Prince Sultan College.

The Heat concluded its conversation on the Gulf states summit with with Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran.