WASHINGTON, 19 November 2021, (TON): The United States and its Arab allies in the Gulf accused Iran of causing a nuclear crisis and destabilizing the Middle East with ballistic missiles and drones.

The warning came in a joint statement issued after a meeting of the US and Gulf Cooperation Council working group on Iran, which was held in Saudi Arabia.

The statement said "all participants urged the new Iranian administration to seize the current diplomatic opportunity stemming from the resumption of talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging the Iranian nuclear accord, and prevent conflict and crisis.”

These indirect talks between the US and Iran were suspended after Iran elected a new president in June and are now scheduled to resume late this month.

They are aimed at resurrecting the 2015 multinational accord aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The US under then president Donald Trump pulled out of the accord in 2018, and in response Iran has abandoned many of the commitments it made under that agreement to curb its nuclear program.

"Iran has taken steps for which it has no civilian need but that would be important to a nuclear weapons program," said the statement from representatives of the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.