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King Salman expresses support for Iran nuclear deal to Obama

WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (KUNA) -- Saudi King Salman expressed support for Iran nuclear agreement when he met with President Barack Obama on Friday in discussions described as "positive and fruitful," a joint statement by the leaders revealed.
The leaders thus highlighted the ongoing military cooperation between the countries in also confronting "ISIL/Daesh," and discussed "fast-tracking certain military equipment to the Kingdom, as well as heightened cooperation on counter-terrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity, and ballistic missile defense." Security cooperation, halting the flow of foreign fighters, and long term counterterrorism efforts remain on the list of the leaders' top utilities in fighting Al-Qaeda and ISIL.
On Yemen, the parties stressed the need to implement relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions to facilitate a political solution for the crisis in Yemen based on the GCC Initiative and its implementation mechanism. Yet the statement did not indicate any direct increase in US assistance for the Saudi-led Arab coalition effort.
"King Salman conveyed Saudi Arabia's commitment to continue to assist the Yemeni people; to work with coalition and international partners to allow for unfettered access to assistance vetted by the UN and its partners, including fuel, to the impacted people of Yemen," the statement affirmed.
The leaders both listed their mutual agreement for a series of issues including support for "two states living side by side" in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, "the departure of (President) Bashar Al Asad" for a political transition in Syria, "support for Prime Minister (Haidar) Abadi's efforts to defeat ISIL/Daesh" in Iraq, and "continued strong support for Lebanon, and importance of Lebanon's parliament expeditiously election a new President." Finally, Obama and King Salman discussed a new "strategic partnership" to "elevate the relationship between the two countries." King Salman briefed Obama on Saudi Arabia's views regarding the strategic partnership, the statement indicated. Both leaders directed officials in their respective governments to explore appropriate ways to move forward in the coming months. (pickup previous) ak.bs