US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged on Monday that the US will not do anything that would undermine the security of its allies in the Persian Gulf, as far as the agreements between Washington and Tehran are concerned, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"We will coordinate fully with our partners in the Gulf", Rubio told reporters in the Kuwaiti capital before leaving for Bahrain, adding: "That's why we are taking these trips now and that's why we are here".
"We will not do anything that would undermine the security of our allies, our long-standing allies in region", the US Secretary of State added.
He is on a tour of three Gulf states - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain - aimed at reassuring US allies in the region who see the proposed peace deal with Iran as too favorable to the regional power that has attacked them during its war with the US and Israel, Reuters reports.
After speaking with UAE leader Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan earlier today, Rubio met with Kuwaiti leaders before leaving for Bahrain.
"If Iran wants to make a good and real deal, the United States is open to that. If they don't, then of course the president has other options", Rubio said.
He added that a technical meeting with the Iranians was planned for June 29 or 30 in Switzerland. Before meeting with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Rubio said that the United States wanted to "discuss with them any decision made in connection with the ongoing negotiations with Tehran," Agence France-Presse reported.
As for the Strait of Hormuz, which is the bone of contention in these negotiations, he stressed that no country other than Iran supports imposing fees for transit through it.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today that the United States had not asked Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon – a condition that he said was set by Tehran in its negotiations with Washington, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We announced that in any case we will not withdraw, and at the moment, and this is a diplomatic success, there has been no request from the United States for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon", Katz said during an interview at a congress of local leaders in Tel Aviv.
"We made it clear - the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to the President (Donald Trump), and I to (Pete) Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, that we are there to protect the residents of the north" of Israel, the Israeli minister added, when asked about a possible withdrawal in the event of a hypothetical request from the United States.
Lebanon and Israel are discussing a proposal supported by the United States that envisages the transfer of territories currently controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the Lebanese army, officials from both countries said, quoted by Reuters.
The proposed plan is part of the latest round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, which are continuing despite Iran trying to make Lebanon-related issues a main topic of negotiations with the United States, the world agency also notes.
In the memorandum of understanding with the United States, the Iranian side included a clause providing for the cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that as long as he is prime minister, Israel will maintain its "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon.
For his part, Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters that Israel intends to cede some of the territories it controls to the Lebanese army, although it is not clear at this stage how much territory the Israeli side is willing to withdraw from.
"Ultimately, we want to withdraw back to the (Litany) river to allow the Lebanese army to take up these positions," Danon said. The Litani River is located about 30 kilometers north of the border with Israel.
Lebanon has said that one of the main goals it will pursue in the negotiations is to ensure the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanese territory.
Israeli officials have indicated that Lebanese soldiers who will participate in the proposed US plan will undergo training and screening to ensure that they are not affiliated with the Hezbollah group, while Israel will maintain its military presence in the established buffer zone along the border.
A Lebanese official said the bilateral talks would focus on setting a deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and that the final plan would be announced after the talks end on Thursday.