Iran deal high on agenda for Saudi king’s US visit

Reassuring Saudi Arabia's king that the Iran nuclear deal would not destabilise the Middle East was high on the topics of discussion when US president Barack Obama met the monarch in Washington yesterday.

Mr Obama welcomed King Salman bin Abd al Aziz on his first official visit to the White House since he ascended to the throne after the death of his brother King Abdullah in January.

The US president said before their meeting that they would discuss the importance of implementing the nuclear deal with Iran while “counteracting its destabilising activities in the region”.

Nuclear programme

The leaders met as the Saudis and America’s other allies in the Gulf region fear that the Iran deal, aimed at stopping Tehran building a nuclear weapon but leaving it with a stripped-back nuclear programme, will still embolden the country and unsettle the region further.

The Saudis, led by a more assertive leader under King Salman, are concerned that Iran will renege on the deal. They fear that Tehran will use the tens of billions of dollars flooding in following the lifting of economic sanctions under the deal to continue funding proxy conflicts in Yemen and Syria, and fan sectarian tensions across the region.

The Saudi visit is aimed at shoring up Middle Eastern support for the deal, a landmark foreign policy achievement for Mr Obama.

It comes after the president secured enough votes at home among fellow Democrats this week to withstand a Republican challenge in Congress that would scupper the nuclear agreement.

Tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia have also risen over Mr Obama's refusal to take military action against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

King Salman skipped a summit of Gulf Arab leaders at Camp David, the US president's Maryland retreat, in May – a move that was widely interpreted as a snub over Mr Obama's engagement with Iran.

“This is obviously a challenging time in world affairs, particularly in the Middle East, and so we expect this to be a substantial conversation across a wide range of issues,” Mr Obama said in the Oval Office before his meeting with the Saudi king.

Counter-terrorism

The president listed the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, the battle against Islamic State and counter-terrorism efforts in general among the topics that the two men would discuss.

“Our relationship is beneficial not only to our two countries, but to the entire world and to our region,” said King Salman, speaking through an interpreter.

Ahead of the visit, the Obama administration released details of a $1 billion (€900 million) arms agreement with the Saudis through which it will supply weapons for the country’s fight in Yemen and against Islamic State.

Underlying the White House’s efforts to reassure Saudi Arabia about the alliance, the US president in an unusual gesture greeted the king’s motorcade at the door of the West Wing when he arrived.

The entire 220-bedroom Four Seasons Hotel in the plush Georgetown area of Washington was reportedly booked for the 79-year-old and his large entourage for their visit to the US capital.