Riyadh: Saudi King Salman told US President Barack Obama that he hoped a final nuclear deal between world powers and Iran would strengthen regional and world security, official media said.
In a phone call with Obama on Thursday, Salman "expressed his hope that a final binding deal would be reached to reinforce the stability and security of the region and the world," the SPA news agency said. A framework agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear drive was clinched Thursday after marathon talks in Switzerland.
It marked a major breakthrough in a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West, which has long feared Tehran wants to build an atomic bomb. Iran and Saudi Arabia, the foremost Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have had troubled relations in recent years after taking different sides in the Syrian civil war.
Relations have been further strained by the conflict raging in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has waged more than a week of air strikes against Iran-backed Shiite rebels. Obama said on Thursday that he had invited Gulf leaders to a spring summit at Camp David to discuss security cooperation in the region.
