JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday urged Persian Gulf Arab states to unite against security threats, as the United States sought to strengthen its influence in a region that has been splintering over how to deal with democracy protests in Egypt, the uprising in Syria and Iran's nuclear program.

Hagel, speaking at a rare meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council defense ministers, quoted from a widely admired centuries-old book of folk tales, Kalila and Dimna.

"Cooperation among friends is vital to their survival," Hagel said, looking at the Arab officials gathered around a table. "We must demonstrate our unity at a critical time. And we must send a message of strength to adversaries."

Hagel's remarks highlighted the fractiousness that has characterized the Persian Gulf in recent months.

Some of the Persian Gulf monarchies have broken with Qatar over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and allied Islamists around the region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain tried to isolate Qatar by withdrawing their ambassadors from Doha in March.

Qatar attended Wednesday's meeting in the ornate Conference Palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, opening the meeting, said the group had to "stand all together to meet" common threats -- Iran's nuclear program being among the biggest. He added that "we have to seek cooperation with the United States."

Privately, Arab officials made clear that policy differences remain, including ones with the United States that have sometimes left both the administration of President Barack Obama and its Arab allies looking as if they are operating from opposing playbooks.

An Arab official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Arab governments have remained annoyed at Obama's handling of the crisis in Egypt since he withdrew support for its president, Hosni Mubarak, in the face of the initial Tahrir Square uprising three years ago.

Since then, the United States has tried to strike a balance between backing for democracy protesters -- which translated into limited support for Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood -- and its long-standing relationship with the Egyptian military, now back in control under the leadership of Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The Saudis and the United Arab Emirates encouraged the Egyptian military's ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood from power last year, and the subsequent crackdown on its supporters, despite U.S. diplomatic efforts to avert both moves.

Hagel said Wednesday that Egypt's new government "is not anywhere near where they need to be to fulfill the commitments that they made" to a pathway to a democratic society. But he also added that the government had done "enough" to keep its certification for continued U.S. aid.

Hagel also heard from the Persian Gulf countries about continuing talks in Vienna over Iran's nuclear program, which have left Arabs fretting that Persian Gulf security could be traded away in exchange for concessions from Iran.

Hagel said in his opening remarks that "under no circumstances" would Washington agree to anything that would weaken Persian Gulf security. The United States will remain "postured and prepared" to make sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, he said, mentioning the 35,000 U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf region.

Iran said Wednesday that it welcomed the invitation for its foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia as an opportunity to discuss regional issues. Beyond the nuclear program, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at odds over Syria, with Iran backing the government of President Bashar Assad while Saudi Arabia has supported rebel forces.

Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, Hagel said the United States and the Persian Gulf states "pledged to deepen our cooperation in providing aid to the Syrian opposition" and agreed that assistance should be "complementary." But, he added, "it must be carefully directed to the moderate opposition," reflecting U.S. concerns about sending help that could end up in the hands of al-Qaida or other extremist organizations.

A Section on 05/15/2014