Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, is due in Washington on Monday in his first visit to the US since being named heir to the throne last year.
The Crown Prince is scheduled to hold several meetings with members of the US administration and CEOs of global companies.
White House sources said Mohammed bin Salman would hold talks with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, followed by meetings with senior administration officials.
A series of issues are expected to top the agenda of the talks, likely to be dominated by concern over Iran’s behavior, its interference in regional affairs, and its ballistic missile program.
The Crown Prince will also hold talks with Congressmen - Republican and Democrat - in addition to officials from both the US State Department and the Pentagon.
Talks in Washington would also tackle the situation in Yemen, the Syrian crisis, the Palestinian case and US plans to push for peace talks, in addition to security, military and economic cooperation.
Last May, Saudi Arabia was the first foreign country Trump visited after taking office.
Mohammed bin Salman’s 18-day visit to the US will include six states. Following meetings in Washington, the Crown Prince plans to visit New York, Boston, Huston, Los Angeles and Seattle to meet top global executives from investment, technology, oil and energy companies and the film industry, including the heads of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
The talks are part of his efforts to promote Vision 2030 initiative and measures taken by Saudi Arabia to diversify the kingdom's economy.
Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan said that the meeting between Mohammed bin Salman and Trump “will mainly focus on the Iranian nuclear deal.”
He said the Crown Prince would push the US administration towards taking tougher stances concerning the Iranian destabilizing behavior across the region.
