RIYADH, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab defence ministers met in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to discuss joint defence against "emerging regional powers", which diplomats said was an apparent reference to Iran.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries share U.S. concerns that Iran's nuclear energy programme is a cover for developing nuclear weapons. They have announced plans for their own nuclear energy programme.

"We are here to discuss developing defence in the Gulf countries ... in the light of changing sources of threat, the rise of the terrorism danger and emerging regional powers," Deputy Saudi Defence Minister Prince Abdul-Rahman bin Abdul-Aziz told a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"We must work hard to develop our armed forces so that they can secure regional stability and the safety of oil sources," he said, in comments carried by Saudi media.

Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil exporter and the Gulf Cooperation Council includes other oil and gas producers Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The loose economic and political alliance also includes Bahrain, where the government is wary of Iranian territorial designs because of its Shi'ite majority population.

Iran is a non-Arab, Shi'ite Muslim power whose regional influence has grown since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which empowered the Iraqi Shi'ite majority.

The United States has a large military presence in the Gulf region, based mainly in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, but Saudi Arabia, the largest Gulf country, has gone on an arms spending spree in the last two years to boost its own defences. (Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Oliver Bullough)

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