GCC Urges Syria to End Violence, Asks Iran to 'Stop Meddling' in Gulf

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council called on arch rival Iran on Tuesday to "stop meddling" in the internal affairs of the group's members and urged Syria to "immediately halt its killing machine."

"Stop these policies and practices ... and stop interfering in the internal affairs" of the Gulf nations, said a statement released at the end of the GCC annual summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The Sunni-led GCC also expressed concern over attempts by Shiite Iran to "instigate sectarian strife."

The GCC also called on Iran to "fully cooperate" with the International Atomic Energy Agency and work to resolve regional conflicts "peacefully," adding that the GCC nations were still committed to a Middle East "free of weapons of mass destruction."

The West fears Iran's nuclear program masks a push to develop an atomic weapons capability, a charge Tehran denies.

Saudi-Iranian relations have deteriorated since 1,000 Gulf troops entered the tiny kingdom of Bahrain to help the Sunni monarchy there crush a Shiite-led uprising in February and March.

For years, the majority Shiite population has complained of economic and political inequality.

In February, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that tossed out long-time autocrats there, thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets demanding democratic reforms.

Government security forces, boosted by the Saudi-led Gulf troops, brutally quashed the Shiite-led protests, infuriating Iran.

The already tense Saudi-Iranian relations took a turn for the worse when U.S. justice officials announced in October that they had foiled an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Though the Iranian intelligence chief was in Riyadh last week to clear up "misunderstandings" regarding the alleged assassination plot, tensions between the two nations remain high.

On Monday, the last of American troops withdrew from Shiite-dominated Iraq, further heightening Gulf concerns over growing Iranian and Shiite influence in the region.

The Gulf Arab nations, with the exception of Bahrain, for the most part evaded the uprisings of the Arab Spring.

In Saudi Arabia, however, Sunni-Shiite tensions have risen in recent weeks as several Shiite demonstrators from the kingdom's Eastern province were killed in anti-government protests.

Saudi Arabia, like Bahrain, accuses Iran of instigating the unrest among the Shiites in their country.

Addressing the Syrian crisis, the GCC urged Syria's government to immediately halt its "killing machine" as a first step towards implementing an Arab peace deal.

Gulf states called on Syria to "immediately halt its killing machine, put an end to bloodshed, lift all signs of armed conflict and release prisoners, as a first step towards implementing the (Arab) protocol" that Damascus agreed to on Monday.

GCC states urged "the Syrian government to implement all points of the Arab initiative and the protocol on sending Arab League observers" to the restive country.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Muqdad signed the accord on Monday after weeks of prevarication in the hope that now the Arab League will lift sweeping sanctions imposed on the Damascus regime.

The plan, endorsed by Syria on November 2, also calls for a complete halt to the violence, releasing detainees and the complete withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters: "If there is goodwill when the protocol was signed then these steps must be immediately taken in order to implement the remaining steps of the protocol."