RIYADH: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to attend a landmark meeting between officials from Saudi Arabia and Iraq aimed at improving relations between the two countries and countering Iran’s growing regional influence, Reuters reported.
Tillerson landed at King Salman Air Base and was received by the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary for Protocol Affairs Azzam Al Qain.
The visit comes a little more than a week after US President Donald Trump unveiled a strategy to contain Iran and compel Tehran to agree to close what he described as flaws in the multinational 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.
Tillerson’s only official meeting on Saturday was a working dinner with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir. He was stopping in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a six-day trip that will also take him to Qatar, Pakistan, India and Switzerland.
His talks in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are expected to be dominated by Iran’s growing regional influence.
This week, Iranians aided Iraqi security forces in seizing the oil-rich area of the northern city of Kirkuk in an effort to abort the independence bid made by the Kurdish minority.
On Sunday, Tillerson is due to attend the inaugural session of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, a body whose creation was promoted by the Trump administration to bolster relations between Riyadh and Baghdad.
During his visit, Tillerson is also expected to renew a push to end the Gulf rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, although he has conceded he is not optimistic.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have accused Qatar of supporting hard-line Islamist groups and strengthening ties with Iran at the region’s expense. Doha denies the allegations.
Tillerson arrives in Riyadh ahead of Saudi-Iraqi talks
Tillerson arrives in Riyadh ahead of Saudi-Iraqi talks
Saudi defense minister receives Mukalla port director, thanks him for heroic role
RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman received the director of the Port of Mukalla Salem Basamir on Tuesday.
In a post on social media platform X, Prince Khalid thanked Basamir for his heroic and humanitarian role in ensuring the safety and protection of lives and property at the port.
The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen carried out a limited airstrike in December targeting foreign military support at the Port of Mukalla in the Hadramaut governorate, where calm has been restored after a period of tension.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency following the strikes, coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the Port of Mukalla without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition.
“The crews of the two ships disabled their tracking systems and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen (Hadramaut and Al-Mahra) with the aim of fueling the conflict. This is a clear violation of the truce and the pursuit of a peaceful solution, as well as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2216,” said the spokesman.
