RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Donald Trump in a speech in Saudi Arabia urged Iran to take a “new and a better path” as he pushes Tehran for a new nuclear deal, but he also warned “massive maximum pressure” if it doesn't come around.
Trump said at the U.S.-Saudi investment conference he wants to avoid conflict with Tehran but warned that time is running out as Iran makes rapid progress with its nuclear program.
“As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,” Trump said. But he added, “If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch ... we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero.”
The comments came as Trump kicked off a four-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday with his visit to Saudi capital. The latest entreaty to Tehran comes days after Trump dispatched his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials for a fourth round of talks aimed at persuading Iran to abandon its nuclear program.
Trump in the speech also said he hopes Saudi Arabia will soon join the Abraham Accords and recognize Israel “in your own time.”
Saudi Arabia long has maintained that recognition of Israel is tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state along the lines of Israel’s 1967 borders. Under the Biden administration, there was a push for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel as part of a major diplomatic deal. However, the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel upended those plans and sent the region into one of the worst period of faces it has faced.
In a separate development, Trump announced he was lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria. The White House also announced that Trump will meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime insurgent who last year led the overthrow of former leader Bashar Assad.
The U.S. has been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders, have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decade-long civil war.
Trump also signed a host of economic and bilateral cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to kicked off a four-day Middle East trip with a focus on dealmaking with a key Mideast ally.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport. The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.
The leaders signed more than a dozen agreements to increase cooperation between their governments' militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions.
Prince Mohammed has already committed to some $600 billion in new Saudi investment in the U.S., but Trump teased $1 trillion would be even better.
Fighter jet escort
The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital — an exceptionally rare sight.
Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a formal greeting and lunch at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue and gold accents and massive crystal chandeliers.
As he greeted business titans with Trump by his side, Prince Mohammed was animated and smiling.
It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump with then-President Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom.
Biden had decided to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia as he looked to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe. At the time, Prince Mohammed's reputation had been badly damaged by a U.S. intelligence determination that found he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But that dark moment appeared to be distant memory for the prince as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives — including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — in front of the cameras and with Trump by his side.
Later, the crown prince will fete Trump with an intimate state dinner at Ad-Diriyah, a UNESCO heritage site that is the birthplace of the first Saudi state and the site of a major development project championed by the crown prince.
Qatar and UAE next
Trump picked the kingdom for his first stop, because it has pledged to make big investments in the U.S., but he ended up traveling to Italy last month for Pope Francis’ funeral. Riyadh was the first overseas stop of his first term.
The three countries on Trump's itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are places where the Trump Organization, run by Trump's two oldest sons, is developing major real estate projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.
He’ll announce deals at all three stops during Mideast swing, initiatives that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and perhaps new arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The administration this month announced initial approval to sell $3.5 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets.
His diplomatic blitz in the Gulf also comes at a time of some strain in the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Before the trip, Trump announced Washington was halting a nearly two-month U.S. airstrike campaign against Yemen’s Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route.
The administration didn’t notify Israel — which the Houthis continue to target — of the agreement before Trump publicly announced it. It was the latest example of Trump leaving the Israelis in the dark about his administration’s negotiations with common adversaries.
In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t notified by the administration until after talks began with Hamas about the war in Gaza. And Netanyahu found out about the ongoing U.S. nuclear talks with Iran only when Trump announced them during an Oval Office visit by the Israeli leader last month.
“Israel will defend itself by itself,” Netanyahu said last week following Trump’s Houthi truce announcement. “If others join us — our American friends — all the better."
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Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani And Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
