Obama Still Tasked With Selling Iran Talks to Arabs, Israel

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s personal outreach to Persian Gulf nations at a summit this week may have allayed their concerns over his pursuit of an Iran nuclear deal for now, but the next six weeks of negotiations with Tehran will be critical to determining whether the reprieve holds.

Arab leaders remain skeptical that Iran will agree to the stringent deal Mr. Obama promised them would be the only one he would accept, despite their pledge of support for a “verifiable” agreement on Thursday following two days with the president. Mr. Obama’s push included a White House dinner, lunch at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Md., and briefings from top U.S. officials—from the secretaries of defense, Treasury and state to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The White House also has yet to attempt a similar charm offensive toward another close Middle East ally and fierce critic of an Iran deal: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Obama doesn’t plan to meet with Mr. Netanyahu before a June 30 deadline for a final deal with Iran, senior administration officials said, meaning any outreach to Israeli leaders instead is likely to be delegated to top U.S. officials.

To maintain Arab support as details of a final Iran deal are negotiated, “we will make sure they stay briefed,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Friday. “We will stay in touch with them at all levels.”

One challenge Mr. Obama faces during the final weeks of nuclear negotiations is that Iran’s actions in the region could scuttle any support he has gained from Arab allies.

After meetings between Mr. Obama and officials from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, a joint statement said they are willing “to develop normalized relations with Iran should it cease its destabilizing activities.”

Iran, however, has intensified its aggression in international waters in the Persian Gulf in recent weeks, and the conflict in Yemen between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia continues.

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