JEDDAH // Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is expected to visit the United States in autumn, US defence secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday after meeting with the monarch.
Mr Carter had earlier said to King Salman in front of reporters that president Barack Obama was looking forward to seeing him in September.
At a meeting in Jeddah to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, King Salman had welcomed the historic agreement, but expressed reservations about how effectively it will be enforced, Mr Carter said.
Mr Carter also met with his Saudi counterpart on Wednesday, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud.
The US defence secretary said after the meetings that King Salman had also expressed concern about the mechanism for reinstating international economic sanctions in the event that Iran is found to have violated the deal.
“Those are the same issues that we know will arise” during implementation of the agreement, Mr Carter added. But he also said that both the Saudi king and defence minister had reiterated their support for the nuclear deal.
The agreement was struck last week between Iran and six major world powers. Under the deal, Tehran will curb its nuclear programme over the next decade in exchange for the easing of economic penalties levied by the US, the United Nations and the European Union. If Iran does not comply with the terms of the deal or allow verification to ensure that it is complying, the Obama administration says that the sanctions can be reinstated or “snapped back”. However, experts say that reinstating sanctions will be more difficult than that.
Saudi Arabia is worried about growing Iranian influence in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East.
King Salman’s trip to the US will be his first since assuming the throne in January. In May he cancelled a visit to attend a meeting between Mr Obama and other GCC leaders, sending the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, in his place.
* Associated Press with additional reporting by Reuters
