Pompeo: Riyadh is powerful force for Mideast stability

Emboldened Iran would spread more death and destruction, warns US secretary of state

Gulf News Report

Degrading US-Saudi ties in the wake of the Jamal Khashoggi affair would be a grave mistake for the national security of the US and its allies, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned.

In an Op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Pompeo said like the US, Saudi Arabia recognises the immense threat Iran poses to the world. “The kingdom is a powerful force for stability in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is working to secure Iraq’s fragile democracy... Riyadh is helping manage the flood of refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war by working with host countries, cooperating closely with Egypt ...” Pompeo wrote.

“Is it any coincidence that the people using the Khashoggi murder as a cudgel against President Trump’s Saudi Arabia policy are the same people who supported Barack Obama’s rapprochement with Iran — a regime that has killed thousands worldwide, including hundreds of Americans, and brutalises its own people?”

He said that an emboldened Iran would spread even more death and destruction in the Middle East, spark a regional nucleararms race, threaten trade routes, and foment terrorism around the world. Commenting on the Saudi effort in Yemen, Pompeo said one of Prince Mohammad’s first acts as heir was an effort to root out Iran’s destabilising influence in Yemen, where the Tehranbacked Al Houthi militia seized power in 2015.