SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia repeats call to arm Syria rebels and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Iran is running out of time on nuclear debate

Record ID: 188942

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia repeats call to arm Syria rebels and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Iran is running out of time on nuclear debate
  • Date: 1st April 2012
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (MARCH 31, 2012) (REUTERS) PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER AND U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILARY CLINTON ENTERING PRESS CONFERENCE HALL REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILARY CLINTON SAYING : "It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious credible discussion about their nuclear programme, whether they are ready to start building the basis of a resolution to this very serious problem. It is up to Iran's leaders to make the right choice. We will see whether they will intend to do so, starting with the P5+1 negotiations in Istanbul April 13-14. What is certain however, is that Iran's window to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever." NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL ,SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER, ON SYRIA, SAYING: "The arming of the opposition is a duty, I think, because it cannot defend itself except with weapons." PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER AND U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILARY CLINTON LEAVING PRESS CONFERENCE HALL .
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3819FK5M27XYW6OOSI27W1W6B
  • Story Text: US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said at the inaugural meeting of a new U.S.-Gulf security forum in Riyadh on Saturday (March 31) that she hoped to see progress from Iran on the nuclear issue at upcoming talks.
    Fresh talks between Iran and world powers are expected to get underway in mid-April as Tehran faces increasing economic and political pressure over its nuclear activities.
    Western diplomats and analysts say that getting Iran to stop the higher-level uranium enrichment it started two years ago and has since sharply increased will be a priority in next month's talks - the latest bid to avert the threat of Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
    On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to forge ahead with tough sanctions on Iran, saying there was enough oil in the world market to allow countries to cut Iranian imports.
    Iran says it has a sovereign right to peaceful nuclear technology and has repeatedly rejected U.N. resolutions calling for a suspension of all uranium enrichment.
    Tehran denies it is pursuing a nuclear weapon or has meddled in affairs of its neighbours.
    U.S. officials have said the United States is hoping to enhance its cooperation across the Gulf region on fighting piracy and violent extremism.
    "It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious credible discussion about their nuclear programme, whether they are ready to start building the basis of a resolution to this very serious problem. It is up to Iran's leaders to make the right choice. We will see whether they will intend to do so, starting with the P5+1 negotiations in Istanbul April 13-14. What is certain however, is that Iran's window to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever," Clinton said.
    Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, spoke about Syria.
    After meeting with Clinton Gulf foreign ministers said the UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan should set a timeline for unspecified measures should his efforts fail to halt the bloodletting.
    A statement read: "Given the urgency of the joint envoy's mission, (U.S. and Gulf ministers) urged the joint envoy to determine a timeline for next steps if the killing continues".
    Saud al-Faisal told the news conference it was a duty to army the rebels.
    "The arming of the opposition is a duty, I think, because it cannot defend itself except with weapons," he said.
    Syria says a year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in line with a U.N.-backed peace deal.
    The agreement proposed by Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops, and stop violence immediately.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register