U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends the inaugural meeting of a new U.S.-Gulf security forum in Saudi Arabia.<br/> <br />Clinton says the United States will work with Gulf Arab nations to strengthen their shared defenses against threats including Iran.<br/> <br />Saturday's discussions also touched on Syria. The United States and Gulf Nations are now calling on UN envoy Kofi Annan to set a timeline for the next steps if violence continues in Syria..<br/> <br />Speculation about Tehran's nuclear ambitions is a source of anxiety among Sunni-led Gulf Arab states, for whom Shi'ite Iran has long been a regional rival.<br/> <br />Fresh talks between Iran and world powers are expected to get underway in mid-April as Tehran faces increasing economic and political pressure over its nuclear activities.<br/> <br />Western diplomats and analysts say that getting Iran to stop the higher-level uranium enrichment it started two years ago and has since sharply increased will be a priority in next month's talks - the latest bid to avert the threat of Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.<br/> <br />Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
