US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated Saturday that American-Saudi relations were crucial for the stability and security of the region.
In an interview with Al Arabiya television, he stressed that Riyadh is “an important partner of the United States, they have been very helpful to us on multiple things that matter to the American people and I am convinced that partnership will remain strong.”
“They have been great partners in the missions that we have asked them to assist us with,” he added from Abu Dhabi.
“This relationship, this mutually beneficial relationship, is to create stability in the Middle East and to assist the United States in executing things that keep the American people safe, is very important. I am convinced the Kingdom will be a great ally in doing so,” he continued.
Asked about the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last year and its impact on Saudi-American ties, Pompeo said: “We want to hold everyone responsible and accountable.”
US President Donald “Trump made clear since immediately aftermath of this murder that the relationship is broader and deeper and bigger than that,” he added.
Pompeo had arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday as part of an eight-stop tour of the Middle East. He has so far visited Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Bahrain.
He is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia Sunday. He has further stops in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
In the UAE, he held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed on bilateral ties and cooperation.
Commenting on the situation in the Middle East, Pompeo told Al Arabiya that the US will not leave the region, adding that the destruction of the ISIS terrorist group was a priority for Washington. Defeating the group will take place in cooperation with Washington’s partners.
“And countering Iran, the threat from the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, is something President Trump has identified as one of his top priorities. We are determined to do that, we will do it with our partners in the Middle East,” he continued.
“No terrorist, no Iranian should believe that the fact that a couple of thousand US soldiers are going to be redeployed out of Syria, in any way diminishes our commitment,” he said of the American troop pullout from Syria.
Addressing next month’s Poland summit on Iran, Pompeo remarked: “The Ministerial in Warsaw will be much broader than that. We will have countries from Asia, Africa, Western Hemisphere countries from South America; this will be a broad coalition aimed at Middle East stability. We’ll talk about how we counter terror, there will be focus on Iran.”
“It’s the first time we have put together a ministerial this way and we think it will show the whole world that there is a broad determination to make life better here and take the terror regimes down in the region.”
