NATO is planning to invite representatives from four Gulf States to its summit in Ankara with the Iran war and the transatlantic rift likely to loom large over the talks, reports media giant, Bloomberg.
The countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE – are all members of the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative, a partnership between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and non-members in the broader Middle East.
Their foreign ministers are expected to be invited to the meeting in Turkey’s capital on July 7-8, according to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nato Press office declined to comment but the report has been widely circulated.
The meeting comes in the wake of growing transatlantic tensions over the war in Iran after President Donald Trump criticised Nato allies for failing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and later announced the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany.
The initiative is partly driven by Nato’s plan to bolster its so-called southern flank, particularly in the context of the war in Iran, one of the people said.
The summit will consist of one core session restricted to the alliance’s 32 leaders like last year, and while inviting leaders from other countries such as the Indo-Pacific or Ukraine is being considered, they would participate in side events, the people said.
For the second year in a row, the summit is being planned in an extremely stripped-down and condensed format to accommodate the US president, they said.
The planning will be firmed up when Nato foreign ministers meet in Sweden next week.
The move comes as autonomous mine hunting equipment and cutting-edge counter drone systems will be deployed by Britain, along with Typhoon jets and a naval ship, to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
This future defensive mission is backed by £115 million (BD58m) of new funding for mine-hunting drones and counter-drone systems that are expected to be operational when conditions allow.
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