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• Uneasy Arab states in Persian Gulf watch US-Iran overtures from sidelines
• DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Lost in the blizzard of attention on Iran's cautious openings to the U.S. was another bit of noteworthy outreach by President Hassan Rouhani: Sending greetings to Saudi Arabia's king and appealing for more cooperation between the two regional rivals.
• Rouhani's message last week also carried a subtext for Saudi Arabia and the other Western-allied Persian Gulf states. As Iran's diplomatic profile rises with attempts to recalibrate its dealings with Washington, the Gulf rulers will have to make adjustments, too.
• That's not such an easy thing for the monarchs and sheiks to swallow.
• Leaders such as Saudi King Abdullah are accustomed to having Washington's undivided focus and a prominent voice in shaping policies over Iran, which Gulf officials routinely denounce for allegedly trying to undermine their rule through suspected proxies and spies.
• The prospect of Iran and the U.S. becoming something less than arch foes -- a flirtation at the U.N. General Assembly capped by President Barack Obama's groundbreaking telephone call to Rouhani -- pushes the Gulf states toward unfamiliar territory.
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• PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) -- Standing just steps from the heavily armed border with North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday that Pyongyang is closely watching the international response to Syria's use of chemical weapons against its own people.
• And, with North Korean soldiers eyeing his every move, Hagel told reporters traveling with him that the U.S. has no plans to reduce its military presence in South Korea, despite the ongoing budget crisis.
• Hagel's visit is timed to the 60th anniversary of the signing of the mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and South Korea, and to reinforce America's commitment to the security of the peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region.
• "There is no margin for error up here," Hagel said after a stop in one of the three small blue conference houses that sit on the border of North and South Korea. "This is probably the only place in the world that we have always a risk of confrontation. Where the two sides are looking clearly and directly at each other all the time."

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