Trump and King Salman in favour of “rigorously” enforcing the Iranian nuclear
The US president and Saudi monarch discussed the issue yesterday in a phone conversation. Their goal is to confront Iran’s "destabilising" activities in the region. During the election campaign, Trump had threatened to cancel the deal. The two leaders also talked about Islamic terrorism and safe areas in Yemen and Syria.
Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) – President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman want to "rigorously" enforce the Iran nuclear deal, the White House said after the two leaders spoke by phone yesterday. US-Saudi relations had cooled during the Obama administration .
Trump and Salman spoke of the need to address Iran's "destabilising regional activities," fight the spread of "radical Islamic terrorism," and establish safe zones in war-ravaged Syria and Yemen, the White House statement read.
After years of embargo, Western economic sanctions against Iran were eased in 2015 in exchange for an agreement on Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme, something welcomed by and large by the international community.
However, during his election campaign, President Trump repeatedly criticised the agreement, calling it one of the worst. Both Israel and most Republicans in the US Congress slammed it as well.
Trump and King Salman "agreed on the importance of rigorously enforcing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and of addressing Iran's destabilizing regional activities," the White House said.
The latter however did not go into any detail and did not indicate how Washington and Riyadh would monitor the implementation of the agreement and what is involved.
The official Saudi Press Agency early on Monday confirmed that Trump had called Salman, but made no mention of Iran.
It said the views of the two leaders "were identical" on issues discussed during the call, including "confronting those who seek to undermine security and stability in the region and interfere in the internal affairs of other states." Riyadh regularly accuses Tehran of regional interference.
Trump’s statements were widely reported in Israel, especially Trump’s opposition to the nuclear deal.
Since the election last November, several analysts have pointed out that Trump surrogates and advisers have stressed that the president would not "unilaterally" cancel the deal unless there is a clear violation of its terms by the Islamic Republic.
Along with Saudi Arabia, Israel has been one of the Middle Eastern countries most opposed to the nuclear deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that there were many ways of "undoing" the Iran nuclear deal and that he would discuss them with Trump.
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12/04/2023 18:18
