JEDDAH: Joint political and economic measures need to be adopted by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to counter countries and groups — such as Iran — that are attempting to destabilize the security of the region, the GCC leader said at a conference in Washington. GCC Secretary-General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani emphasized that a coordinated and strong response should be made to countries and groups that are trying to destabilize the region. These should including political and economic measures. He specified the role played the Iranians in destabilizing security in the region. He made his call for action in his opening speech at the 27th Arab-US Policymakers Conference in the US. The three-day meeting seeks to answer the question: What paths forward for America in and with the Arab region? He added that the future vision of the Middle East and North Africa region should be derived from the reality of challenges facing the region. Referring to the key challenges facing the Middle East, he said they require a vision agreed upon by the countries of the region based on achieving security, stability and peace. He spoke of the need to prepare a comprehensive strategy based on correlation and interdependence among the countries which are politically convergent. The conference was organized by the National Council for US-Arab Relations with the participation of a number of Arab ambassadors to the US, US former ambassadors to Arab countries as well as intellectuals, researchers, businessmen and members of the media.