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Secretary Rubio Opens the Meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council Foreign Ministers, Sep. 24, 2025

September 24, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 0:05:40

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered opening remarks at a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states in New York City on September 24, 2025, during the UN General Assembly week, according to the State Department broadcast.

Rubio said the United States is committed to the partnership “as a whole and with each of the countries that are represented here today,” building on President Trump’s conversations with Gulf heads of state in Riyadh in May, and to pursuing opportunities as well as challenges: “Sometimes the challenges get in the way of also pursuing the opportunities. We want to be able to do both.”

He put Gaza first among the challenges: “We want this conflict to end. We want it to end immediately,” ending with every hostage, living and deceased, released, and “a Gaza that is free of terrorism, that is free of extremism.” He flagged two historic openings — Syria, where the United States is working in partnership with the Gulf states to build “a strong, unified state” no longer a base for extremists or foreign actors, following what he called the President’s bold action in May; and Lebanon, where the goal is a strong state “free of the influence of Iran and Hizballah.” On Iran itself, he drew the administration’s line between regard for the Iranian people and verdict on their leaders: “we cannot allow the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism to ever possess weapons of mass destruction like a nuclear weapon.”

Why it matters

The GCC opening is the administration’s Gulf doctrine compressed into one statement — Gaza’s end-state, Syria and Lebanon as joint projects with the Gulf states, and Iran’s nuclear line — delivered to the partners whose money and regional weight each of those projects requires.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio Meets with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States” (official upload, embedded above; New York City). Remarks as delivered 2025-09-24; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store; full transcript at state.gov.