US Secretary of State John Kerry and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry  taking questions during a news conference in Cairo yesterday.

AFP
Cairo


US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday sought to assure Middle East states that the Iran nuclear deal would make them safer, as he began a regional tour.
Kerry met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry to patch up troubled relations between the two countries with a pledge of support.
He later met President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi before leaving for Qatar to meet Gulf Arab foreign ministers.
 “There can be absolutely no question that if the Vienna plan is fully implemented, it will make Egypt and all the countries of this region safer than they otherwise would be or were,” Kerry told a joint news conference with Shoukry of the nuclear deal.
“The US and Egypt recognise that Iran is engaged in destabilising activities in the region - and that is why it is so important to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme remains wholly peaceful,” he said.
“If Iran is destabilising, it is far, far better to have an Iran that doesn’t have a nuclear weapon than one that does.”
Kerry is also expected to meet in Doha with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.  
At yesterday’s press conference, he spoke of the need for a “balance” between fighting militants and respecting human rights in Egypt.
“There has been a little bit of tensions here and there over certain issues. The US has expressed concerns about some of the challenges of human rights protection,” Kerry said.
An Egyptian foreign ministry statement said both sides would keep co-operating closely “to improve their mutual security, to combat terrorism and extremism”.
At his talks with Sisi, Kerry raised “the importance of press freedom”, a US diplomat said, while the presidency underlined Egypt’s wish to develop its “strategic relations” with the US.
 “We have significantly increased military co-operation as seen from the delivery of the F-16s, other equipment and goods which are very essential in the fight against terrorism,” Kerry said.
At his meeting with Shoukry, Kerry said Washington wanted to support Cairo economically and politically.
In Doha, Kerry will meet his counterparts from the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, seeking to allay their concerns about the nuclear deal.
“This is an opportunity, really, for the secretary to do a deep dive with the GCC foreign ministers to try to respond to any remaining questions that they might have and hopefully to satisfy them and ensure that they’re supporting our effort going forward,” a US State Department official said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s president has said his country’s nuclear deal with the West would create better prospects for faster solutions in Syria and Yemen, two of the Middle East’s worst conflict zones.
In a live appearance on state television, Hassan Rouhani said the July 14 agreement had shown diplomacy and engagement were the only way to solve serious political problems and end crises. Pages 5, 6