Arabs nervous About Iran

[Christina]

US, EU and Arab officials meet on IranNov. 9, 2008 US and European representatives on Sunday met with representatives from Arab countries worried about Iran's influence in the Mideast, a senior US official said. The official said foreign ministers from several Arab countries met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the Red Sea resort of Sharm e-Sheikh. A participant in Sunday's meeting said Arabs are worried about any potential deal on Iran's nuclear program that would give the country more power in the Middle East. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential. It marks the first time EU and US officials have met publicly with representatives from Arab countries to discuss the Iranian threat. The meeting comes less than a week after the victory of US President-elect Barack Obama, who has said he is more open to Iran talks. Despite having declared that he is more open to dialogue with the Islamic Republic, on Friday, Obama used his first post-election news conference to declare that "Iran's development of a nuclear weapon" was "unacceptable" and that "we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening." Teheran slammed him on Saturday for adopting the "erroneous policy" of demanding an end to its nuclear weapons program. Meanwhile, Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik urged a group of hundreds of European parliamentarians at the end of last week to act against the threat posed by a nuclear Iran, saying that Europe had a historic responsibility to the security of the Jewish People.