U.S. open to 'new arrangement' on Iran's missile tests

MANAMA, Bahrain -- The United States suggested Thursday it was open to a "new arrangement" with Iran for peacefully resolving disputes such as Tehran's recent ballistic missile tests, while America's Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf said Iran must stop sending forces to Syria and weapons to Yemen if it wants to normalize ties with its neighbors.

Setting the stage for President Barack Obama's summit with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia later this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to advance a series of proposals aimed at easing Arabs' concerns about last year's Iran nuclear deal and the warming of ties between the U.S. and Iran.

These include providing new counterterrorism, conventional military, missile defense and cybersecurity capabilities.

Kerry raised several other ideas, including a possible partnership between the GCC and NATO to help stabilize the conflict-ravaged Arabian Peninsula.

He pledged $139 million in new U.S. humanitarian assistance for Yemen to be doled out over the coming year, but his most interesting suggestion concerned the Iranian ballistic missile activities the U.S. had denounced as violations of a United Nations ban.

A moment after declaring America was united with Persian Gulf countries against the Iranian missile tests, Kerry said the U.S. and its partners were telling Iran they were "prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution to these issues."

He said Iran first had to "make it clear to everybody that they are prepared to cease these kinds of activities that raise questions about credibility and questions about intentions."

Kerry didn't elaborate further.

The foreign ministers also addressed the fight against the Islamic State and the region's two deadly civil wars in Syria and Yemen.