New U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo starts Mideast tour in Riyadh
Abdur Razzak: New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on the first stop of his hastily-arranged visit to the Middle East as decisions on the Iran nuclear deal and a review of the U.S. role in Syria loom large.
A State Department official said the visit to Riyadh, Jerusalem and Amman just two days after Pompeo was sworn-in as America’s top diplomat was also aimed at forging closer ties with important U.S allies in the Middle East.
Pompeo said on Friday he would discuss the future of the 2015 Iran deal in his talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called the nuclear agreement the “worst deal ever” and threatened to reimpose sanctions against Iran unless European allies Britain, France and Germany agree to fix it. Resuming sanctions would likely kill the deal.
Pompeo was one of the first Trump administration officials to visit Saudi Arabia early in his tenure as CIA director. In Riyadh, Pompeo was greeted on the tarmac by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He is expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman during the visit. Reuters