BICOM

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter met yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in order to discuss the nuclear deal agreed with Iran last week.

At the meeting in Jeddah, which was also attended by Salman’s son, deputy crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Defence Minister, the Saudi leaders expressed their reservations surrounding the agreement which will likely see international sanctions lifted in return for a slowdown in Iranian nuclear development over the next decade.

According to Carter, both the king and prince “reiterated their support” for the deal, but also outlined their concerns. He said that they discussed reservations “that we thoroughly share, mainly that we attend to verification of the agreement as it is implemented” and that there will be a robust ‘snapback’ mechanism to reinstate sanctions if Iran violates the accord.

Carter visited Israel earlier this week to discuss the nuclear deal and heard opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that “many Arab states” also oppose the agreement, in part due to Iran’s regional ambitions. Indeed, Carter said yesterday that he discussed Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in Yemen with King Salman. He commented, “The Iranian influence with the Houthis is real.” Iran also supports terror groups in the region including Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

The Guardian online reports that the White House has also despatched senior figures including US Secretary of State John Kerry to Capitol Hill in order to lobby Congressmen to support the deal. At the same time, the Telegraph says that Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer has already met with up to 40 Republican members of the House of Representatives to shore up their opposition to the agreement. Congress must assess and vote on the nuclear accord within the coming weeks, but will need a two thirds majority to override a presidential veto. Meanwhile, a reported 10,000 people protested against the nuclear deal in New York’s Times Square yesterday.