, US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia agreed that preventing Iran from "acquiring a nuclear weapon" was a major priority.){kind=link}
In a joint statement released by the Saudi official press agency (SPA), US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia agreed that preventing Iran from “acquiring a nuclear weapon” was a major priority.
According to a statement, President Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to assisting Saudi Arabia’s security and territorial defence, and enabling the Kingdom’s capacity to acquire the necessary capabilities to protect its people and territory from foreign threats.
Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim nations Tehran and Riyadh cut relations last year over their support for rival factions fighting proxy conflicts in the Middle East.
In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the United States emphasised the need of discouraging Iran from interfering in “the internal affairs of other countries, its support for terrorism via armed proxies, and its attempts to disrupt peace and stability in the region.”
International waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab have been cited by both sides as critical in maintaining free trade.
As part of a 2015 agreement with six major nations, Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear programme in return for the removal of economic sanctions. The Iranian government claims that its nuclear programme is only focused on producing atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
Withdrawing from the agreement in 2018, then-Former President Trump said that it was inadequate to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Efforts to return to an agreement between Western countries and Tehran in Vienna have been put on hold because of Iran’s recent increase in nuclear activity.