White House: Saudi king praised Trump for ‘visionary’ new Iran strategy

Saudi Arabia’s king “praised President Trump” in a call for the United States’ “visionary new strategy” towards Iran, the White House said Sunday. 

“King Salman praised President Trump for his visionary new Iran strategy and pledged to support American leadership,” the White House said in a read-out of the call between Trump and King Salman.

{mosads}“President Trump thanked King Salman for Saudi Arabia’s support and emphasized the importance of the Gulf Cooperation Council in countering Iran’s destabilizing activities in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and elsewhere in the region.”

Trump and the Saudi king also talked about ways the two nations can fight terrorist organizations.

Saturday’s call came after Trump in a speech on Friday announced that the Iran nuclear accord is not in the United States’ national security interest. The president said he would not certify that Iran is in compliance with the deal. He did not withdraw from the agreement, however, nor did he call on Congress to re-implement sanctions on Tehran.

Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia have a historic rivalry as both nations fight for dominance in the region.

Iran’s foreign minister said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Trump’s decision will harm U.S. credibility with foreign leaders.

“Nobody else will trust any U.S. administration to engage in any long-term negotiation because the length of any commitment, the duration of any commitment from now on with any U.S. administration would be the remainder of the term of that president,” Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated the 2015 deal on behalf of Iran, told CBS News.