Gulf Co-operation Council countries are set to begin talks on Morocco and Jordan joining the GCC to boost its political and military clout, a Bahraini envoy said, in the face of a perceived growing Iranian threat.

The GCC, a loose bloc grouping Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, said this week it would consider a request by the two Arab monarchies to join.

'The negotiations will start soon,' Naser Al-Balooshi, the Bahraini ambassador to France, told reporters in Paris.

'They have weight globally so that will help the GCC  it will strengthen us at the negotiating table and militarily we will be stronger so it's an asset for us.'

Analysts said ruling monarchs in the GCC appear to be seeking closer ties with counterparts outside the immediate Gulf region to help contain pro-democracy unrest that is buffeting autocratic ruling elites throughout the Arab world.

'They are well respected around the world as reasonable governments that are working for their people rather than for an ideology like Iran,' Balooshi said.

He said the two countries also had similar capitalist economic models that complement the GCC, adding that their strong links with the US and France could only benefit the world's largest oil exporting region.-Reuters