GCC: Rice sought more pressure on Irannote

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice toured the Middle East region this week. She discussed issues related to Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and to Iran and its nuclear programme. She met with GCC foreign ministers in Abu Dhabi on 23/2/06 during her tour. The joint statement issued at the end of the meeting stressed both sides' fears and serious concerns about the nuclear proliferation in the Gulf region, and reaffirmed the necessity of keeping the Gulf region free from weapons of mass destruction.