RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Arab Gulf leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for an annual summit that was intended to showcase their unity in the face of shared threats. For all their diverging views and interests, members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council share a common goal of stability in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping corridor that’s vital to their energy exports from the Persian Gulf. The GCC bloc is composed of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Attacks blamed on Iran this summer, including a stunning missile and drone attack on a major Saudi crude processing facility, have rattled the region. “The Gulf region must unite in the face of Iran's aggression and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council must secure themselves in the face of ballistic missile attacks,” Saudi Arabia's King Salman said in his opening remarks.

Source: International New York Times December 10, 2019 11:20 UTC