DOHA
A summit of leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) kicked off Tuesday in Saudi capital Riyadh ahead of a Gulf-U.S. summit to be held at Camp David later this month.
French President Francois Hollande attended Tuesday's summit as guest speaker – the first participation by a European leader in a Gulf summit since the GCC was established in 1981.
Heads of state are expected to discuss the crisis in Yemen and Iran's ongoing talks with world powers over its nuclear program.
They are also expected to discuss the Syrian civil war and means of confronting the Daesh militant group, which last year overran vast territories in Syria and Iraq.
Developments in Palestine are also expected to be discussed at Tuesday's summit.
The summit comes ahead of a scheduled May 14 meeting between Gulf leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama at Camp David, in the U.S.
Last month, Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the U.S., China, France, Russia, the U.K. and Germany) unveiled a preliminary framework for talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Parties to the talks have set themselves a June 30 deadline for reaching a deal.
Iran's nuclear program has caused particular concern in the Arab Gulf, where Sunni-majority states fear the prospect of Shiite Iran obtaining a nuclear weapons arsenal.
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