President Donald Trump in a speech in Saudi Arabia urged Iran to take a “new and a better path” as he pushes for a new nuclear deal.
Trump said at the US-Saudi investment conference, during a four-day Middle East trip, that he wants to avoid conflict with Tehran, AP reports.
“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.
The comments came as Trump kick off the Mideast trip 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.
“As President of the United States, my preference will always be for peace and partnership, whenever those outcomes can be achieved,” Trump said.
He also said he hopes Saudi Arabia will soon join the Abraham Accords and recognize Israel “in your own time.”
Trump to meet Syria’s Al-Sharaa, weighs lifting sanctions
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 October 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, the White House 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 later during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.