Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Saudi Arabia
The Secretariat General of Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Riyadh
MINISTER AL THANI: (In progress) (Via interpreter) to welcome His Excellency Mr. Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, for his participation in this joint meeting with – between the GCC and the U.S. And we look forward to finding common grounds and to coordinate between us, especially in light of what the region is witnessing in terms of conflicts and our responsibility to achieve peace and security at the regional level and to coordinate at all levels.
So it’s very important for us to coordinate this on our joint strategic relationship, and I should also refer to the (inaudible) for cooperation and development, and President Biden’s participation in July 2020, and the historic Strategic Partnership that it established based on the achievements of previous summits to enhance cooperation and coordination between us at all levels, and also at the ministerial level, which was evident in the last joint ministerial meeting between the GCC and the U.S. which was held in New York on September 18, 2023, on the margins of the UN General Assembly meetings and – which also stressed the importance of continued work.
This strengthened (inaudible) developments and military escalation in the Middle East is extremely grave and dangerous to international peace and security, and (inaudible) to all work together, and we’ll concentrate a concerted efforts to achieve peace and exercise self-control and to prevent war in the region. Foremost among these challenges in the Middle East is the failure of the international community to find a solution to the Palestine problem, which continues to see the bloodshed of innocent women, children, and elderly as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
From here, I mean, the State of Qatar, of course, is calling for ceasefire, and – of the military and processes and operations, of course, and then to provide all humanitarian aids and relief aids Israel to – the whole world must stand as one front. Israel is not to use the humanitarian aids as (inaudible) so as to bridge all the national resolutions. And I’d like to make sure and stress the importance that the State of Qatar will do its best along with the – mean, the other countries in the councils towards the peace process will – so as to serve the Palestine – and cause Israel – and based on the very and self-situation of Qatar on behalf of the Palestinian – I mean, cause Israel’s – and we call for the (inaudible) solution, Israel based on the respect of international law, as we’ll go back to the 1967 borders Israel’s – as to – so as to help push the peace process regionally and globally.
Distinguished guests, we would like to stress the importance of cooperation between all the GCC countries and the United States of America (inaudible) work all together so as to bridge what might provide peace and stability for the region and the whole world, and supporting all diplomatic efforts as well. I mean, and – (inaudible) regional conflicts builds to the conclusion of this important (inaudible). I wish you all the best – and for our people, for more growth will (inaudible) peace. And God’s peace and mercy upon all of you.
And now I give the speech to His Excellency Antony Blinken, the State Department and Secretary of the United States.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, thank you very, very much. And let me just say at the outset how grateful I am to be together again with all of our colleagues, colleagues who share a clear interest in building a more stable, a more secure, a more integrated region for everyone. That work is more important than it’s ever been, and of course, it comes against the backdrop of conflict with Israel and Hamas, and increasingly destabilizing actions by Iran and its proxies. I want to thank the chair of the GCC, Qatar, and especially my friend Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Al Thani, for genuinely tireless efforts to try to find a path to an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza. Thank you on a personal as well as professional level for everything that you’re doing.
The most effective way to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to alleviate the suffering of children, women, and men, and to create space for a more just and durable solution is to get a ceasefire and the hostages home. But we’re also not waiting on a ceasefire to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza. President Biden has insisted that Israel take specific, concrete, measurable steps to better address humanitarian suffering, civilian harm, and the safety of aid workers in Gaza, including in his most recent call with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
We have seen measurable progress in the last few weeks, including the opening of new crossings, an increased volume of aid delivery to Gaza and within Gaza, and the building of the U.S. maritime corridor, which will open in the coming weeks. But it is not enough. We still need to get more aid in and around Gaza. We need to improve deconfliction with the humanitarian assistance workers, and we have to find greater efficiency and greater safety, and deconfliction is at the heart of that.
And finally, we have to make sure that we’re focusing not just on inputs, but on impact. All of this is going to be a focus of the next few days for me as I travel on to Jordan and Israel. I’ll have a chance to meet with humanitarian groups, with the Israeli Government, to hear from them where more work is needed, and to continue to press for tangible, immediate, and sustained progress.
Even as we focus on these immediate needs, we continue to work with our GCC colleagues on a plan to build a just and lasting peace, a pathway to a state for the Palestinians with guarantees for Israel’s security as part of a more integrated and a more secure region. Today’s also an opportunity to advance efforts to promote greater stability in this region and to prevent conflict from spreading, which has been one of our core objectives from day one, ever since October 7th.
We’re focused on addressing the greatest threat to regional stability and regional security: Iran. This is the first meeting since Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, the first direct attack from Iran to Israel, with more than 300 projectiles, including over 100 ballistic missiles. This attack highlights the acute and growing threat from Iran, but also the imperative that we work together on integrated defense. That’s the focus of the meeting that’s coming up in a few weeks with the U.S.-GCC Working Group on Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Maritime Security. This brazen attack also underscores the risks of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon and why we must continue to work together to make sure that that does not happen.
Today we’ll also discuss ways to prevent – preserve freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks have not only undermined security, but they’re undermining the lives and livelihoods of people throughout the region, including in Yemen – the very people they profess to want to represent. The costs of goods are going up, harder to get things into Yemen, including to the north where people so desperately need it. We’ve seen an – mini-environmental catastrophe with the sinking of a ship that spilled oil and fertilizer. We’ve seen attacks on ships that were actually bringing food to the people of Yemen, and of course we have a larger impact on the global economy.
So this needs to stop, and we will be resolute in doing everything we can to put a stop to it. We’re working to forge as well a diplomatic solution to conflict in Yemen and to meet humanitarian needs for all of its people, and here, I applaud the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the work that it’s been doing so assiduously over the last couple of years to try to move in that direction.
Finally, I would just say that I think one of the things that the last few months have brought into the sharpest possible relief is that there really are two paths forward for the region as a whole. One – riven with division, with destruction, with violence, with permanent insecurity; the other – greater integration, greater security, greater peace. I think the meeting today shows that many more of us want to pursue that affirmative path, and I’m grateful to our colleagues from the GCC for working in partnership to advance in that direction. Thank you.
SECRETARY GENERAL AL-BUDAIWI: (In progress) (Via interpreter) the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United States of America. The GCC states attach a special importance to their (inaudible). Welcome His Excellency of the State Department – Secretary of the State Department of the United States of America, taking into concentration the importance of the GCC (inaudible) its historic partnership and relationship with the United States of America which has been shown through enhancing the joint cooperation – I mean, (inaudible) three meetings in less than a year, aiming, looking forward – looking forward to achieving success with such important meeting. I mean, a – the holding our meeting today underlines a strategic importance of the historic relations between the two sides and their joint commitment to build on the outcomes of the previous ministerial meetings and summits, and the most recent of which was the summit held in Jeddah in July 16th, 2022, and the joint ministerial meeting in New York in last September, with a view to fostering consultation, coordination, cooperation in all areas, which would contribute to maintaining regional and international security and stability.
Ladies and gentlemen, this – I mean, our meeting today is of a great importance, particularly in the light of the exceptional difficult and unprecedented circumstances in the region, which makes it imperative to intensify efforts at all levels, with a view to de-escalating situation and avert the region new levels of violence, tension, and instability due to the war in the Gaza Strip, the military escalation between Iran and Israel, and the increasing tensions in the Red Sea that pose a threat to maritime security and freedom of navigation, as well as the potential risk of nuclear proliferation and ballistic missiles and drones.
So we reiterate the GCC firm position towards the Israel aggression on the Gaza Strip, demanding an immediate, long-lasting ceasefire, and calling Israel to stop hostilities throughout Gaza, including the city of Rafah, in order to ensure delivery of all humanitarian and relief aid and basic needs to the people of Gaza. We also stress the need for the international community to adopt effective policies and measures to stop escalation and the acts of violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem and Islamic sanctities, and to discontinue the settlement and the confiscation of lands as the displacement of the Palestinians from their lands, and to support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and establishment of their independent Palestinian state on the 1996 boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolutions.
Here, I would like to point out to the statement issued by the 44th extraordinary meeting of the GCC Ministerial Council, where we affirmed our commitment to our call for an international conference with participation of all concerned parties to discuss all issues related to the Palestinian issue, with a view to reaching a solution that would end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Your highnesses, your excellencies, the continued escalation between Israel and Iran poses a grave threat in the region which would (inaudible) intensify the conflict and undermine regional security and stability. Hence, we call on all parties to exercise utmost self-control and resolve political dispute through diplomatic channels in order to avert the region and its people the dangers of war. We also express our great concern over the escalating tensions in the Red Sea, following the ongoing attacks by the Houthis on maritime navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea area, which pose an unacceptable threat to the international trade, region security, any other national interests. We re-underscore the UN Security Council Resolution 2722 of January 2024, which demands the Houthis to stop attacking the transiting vessels in the Red Sea.
Your highnesses and excellencies, the GCC-U.S. distinguished cooperation relation have produced several tangible achievements which constitute the cornerstone of these relations. In this context, I would like to commend the outcomes of the GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership, as five joint summits were held over the past years in addition to several ministerial meetings that provided clear guidelines on how to further move forward with our present partnership and developing it.
These ministerial meetings resulted in forming joint working groups on the following areas: working group on the integrated air missile defense system, working group on the maritime security, working group on cyber security, working group on military training, working group on special operations, working group on combating terrorism, working group on the special group for Iran, working group on trade and investment. All these working groups seek to strengthen our Strategic Partnership.
Also, I would like to proudly point out to the advanced level of joint military cooperation and coordination, as we are currently forholding the upcoming meetings of the working group on – upcoming meeting of the working group on air and missile defense – and the working group on maritime security – next May, with a view – I would like to extend my appreciation to both parties for the tangible efforts, actually for enhancing military cooperation. And also, I would like also to thank both sides’ specialists for their ongoing efforts to hold the GCC-U.S. Trade and Investment Dialogue scheduled for June 26th, 2024, in the United States. I also welcome the invitation to GCC-U.S. business roundtable on June 27th, 2024, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, in Washington on the sidelines of the 10th U.S. Investment Summit.
My friend, Tony Blinken, I welcome Your Excellency once again to this meeting with your GCC friends. I strongly commend our distinguished partnership, which has always been seeking to strengthen the foundations of security, stability, prosperity, and common understanding. Wishing our meeting every success with this (inaudible). God’s peace and mercy upon all of you.
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