Obama to meet with Arab leaders May 13-14

President Obama will promote the Iran nuclear agreement in a meeting with Arab leaders now set for the middle of next month.

The president will meet May 13-14 with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the White House announced Friday.

"The gathering will be an opportunity for the leaders to discuss ways to enhance their partnership and deepen security cooperation," said a White House statement.

Some Arab nations have expressed concern about a proposed an agreement in which the United States and its allies would reduce economic sanctions on Iran if it gives up the means to make nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia and other nations question whether Iran would live up to such an agreement and protested Iranian adventurism in other countries, including Syria and Yemen. Some U.S. lawmakers have similar misgivings about the Iran deal.

Obama said the proposed deal would block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon while avoiding a military confrontation. Negotiators are working on the precise details of the agreement and face a June 30 deadline.

Seeking to build international support for the deal, Obama planned to discuss Iran in a meeting Friday with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The two leaders also planned to talk about the battle against the Islamic State, Russian aggression in Ukraine, civil war in Libya, and Middle East unrest in general.

Obama mentioned plans to meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council while announcing the framework of the Iran deal earlier this month. The White House disclosed the specific dates Friday.

A May 13 meeting takes place at the White House, with a May 14 session at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md.