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Clinton seeks more Arab pressure on Iran

SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will seek to enlist more Arab diplomatic pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions during a visit to the Gulf this week, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Speaking as she set off on a three-day visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the officials said Clinton also hoped to win greater Arab support to revive Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, which have been frozen for more than a year.

President Barack Obama has made little headway in his effort to restart the peace talks or to persuade Iran to rein in a civil nuclear program which the West, as well as many Arab states, suspect is a cover to develop atomic weapons.

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Clinton wants Saudis' help

SHANNON (Ireland) - SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton flew Sunday to the Gulf to ask for oil-rich Saudi Arabia's help in pressing China to join the US drive for sanctions against Iran's disputed nuclear program, aides said.

The chief US diplomat's three-day trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia is also aimed at enlisting broader regional support, including Turkey's, in a drive to stop Iran's sensitive nuclear work, her aides told reporters. Her mission comes amid US security buildup involving the deployment of anti-missile systems in the Gulf as well as a flurry of high-level visits to the region by senior US diplomats and military officials.

Mrs Clinton's aides neither confirmed nor denied suggestions that they would ask Saudi leaders to offer China, which imports much of its oil from Iran, supply guarantees in return for winning Beijing's support for new UN sanctions. 'Saudi Arabia has an important trading relationship with China already,' Jeffrey Feltman, Mrs Clinton's top diplomat for the Middle East, told reporters en route to Doha, via Shannon, Ireland.

Mr Feltman noted that there have been a number of recent visits between the Gulf and China. 'We would expect them (the Saudis) to use these visits, to use their relationship in ways that can help increase the pressure that Iran feels,' said Mr Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs.

China appears to be the strongest holdout to sanctions among the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, which also include the United States, Russia, Britain and France. Moscow has hardened its stance toward Iran lately. (Emphasis added)

In Doha, aides said, Mrs Clinton will discuss Iran but also the Arab-Israeli peace process with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar's emir, and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, who is both foreign minister and prime minister. She will hold similar talks with other Muslim leaders attending the seventh US-Islamic World Forum, where Clinton will deliver remarks building on President Barack Obama's own speech in Cairo last year calling for a 'new beginning' with Muslim communities worldwide. -- AFP

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-- Edited by Sanders on Saturday 13th of February 2010 11:30:28 PM