Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Tuesday in London said that Saudi Arabia supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s concerns about Iran.
Trump broke ranks with other major powers this month by refusing to formally certify that Tehran is complying with the nuclear deal, even though international inspectors said it is.
Al-Jubeir said the nuclear deal had shortcomings, and that he agreed with Trump’s assessment that Iran was working to destabilise the region and was funding militant organisations.
Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, has been at loggerheads with Iran, a Shi‘ite Muslim country, for decades, and the countries have fought a long-running proxy war in the Middle East.
“(Iran’s behaviour) is not acceptable, and there will be consequences to the Iranians. This is what President Trump has said, and we are very supportive of that,” Al-Jubeir said.
Following Trump’s decision, U.S. Congress has until mid-December to decide whether to re-impose economic sanctions on Tehran that was lifted under the pact.
Al-Jubeir said that new sanctions on Iran would be welcome, and that a delay could mean that by the time sanctions had impact, Iran could have already developed “a dozen” nuclear bombs.
“The international community needs to support those (sanctions) in order to send a very strong message to Iran that your behaviour, your nefarious activities, has consequences,” Al-Jubeir said.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and denies it has aimed to build an atomic bomb. (Reuters/NAN)
