Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on his first trip to the Middle East as America's top envoy, sought to muster support Sunday for a more robust international response to what U.S. officials see as a growing threat emanating from Iran.
Speaking to reporters in Saudi Arabia, Iran's main regional adversary, Pompeo said the multi-party agreement reached in 2015 to curb Tehran's nuclear program did not do enough to contain the Islamic Republic. "In fact, Iran has only behaved worse since the deal was approved," he said.
The former CIA director cited Iran's support for the "murderous" government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and also accused the country of arming Houthi rebels in Yemen who have repeatedly targeted Saudi cities with ballistic missiles � a charge denied by Tehran.
"Iran destabilizes this entire region," Pompeo said, standing alongside his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh. "It is indeed the greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world, and we are determined to make sure it never possesses a nuclear weapon."
President Trump has said he will decide by May 12 whether to pull out of the agreement negotiated by the Obama administration and unilaterally reimpose U.S. sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. diplomats have been meeting with other parties to the accord, including France and Germany, to try to negotiate supplementary agreements to address Trump's concerns. But in Brussels on Friday, Pompeo warned European leaders that Trump is unlikely to stay in the deal "absent a substantial fix."
Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for meetings with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir. He then flew to Israel on Sunday and will wrap up the trip in Jordan on Monday.
Pompeo said he assured the Saudis that the kingdom's security remains a priority to the United States, but he also emphasized the need for a political solution in Yemen.
U.S. officials are concerned about the alarming toll of a conflict that the United Nations says has killed at least 10,000 people and displaced 3 million since a Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign in 2015 to restore to power Yemen's internationally recognized government.
"The longstanding political and security vacuum created by the conflict, as well as deteriorating humanitarian conditions, have also been exploited in Yemen by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and by ISIS," Pompeo said, using an acronym for the extremist group Islamic State. "When these groups are given safe haven, the U.S. homeland is at risk."
Pompeo also urged the Saudis to resolve a dispute with neighboring Qatar, which U.S. officials say is preventing a unified response among Arab nations against Iran and other threats. In June, Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an embargo on Qatar over its close ties to Iran and alleged support for terrorists. Qatar denies the charges.
"I think they would all agree that it's in everyone's best interests that the [Persian] Gulf states all figure out how to be together," Pompeo told reporters on route to Israel. "We've got a common challenge in Iran. I think they all recognize that."
