Saudi ambassador to US: Deal fueled Iran’s malicious regional expansion

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States quickly reacted to Washington’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord with Iran saying the deal fueled Iran’s expansionist ideological drives across the Middle East.

Trump on Tuesday also said he would move to re-impose all sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 deal, not just the ones facing an immediate deadline. This had become known informally as the "nuclear option" because of the near-certainty that such a move would scuttle the deal.

“As I said before with regards to the deal, we are on auto pilot heading towards a mountain. Deal has fueled Iran’s malicious expansion driven by its extremist ideology. It provided Iran with a financial windfall that it used to further sectarian strife/chaos in the region,” Ambassador Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted on Tuesday.

“Since deal was inked, instead of behaving like a responsible member of the int’l community, the regime doubled down on its support for terror, providing dangerous weapons (such as ballistic missiles) to terrorist proxies including the Houthis In Yemen to target civilians in KSA,” he added.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fully supports the measures taken by @POTUS with regards to the JCPOA. we always had reservations with regards to sunset clauses, ballistic missiles program, and Iran’s support for terrorism in the region.

— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) May 8, 2018

As I said before with regards to the deal, we are on auto pilot heading towards a mountain. Deal has fueled Iran’s malicious expansion driven by its extremist ideology. It provided Iran with a financial windfall that it used to further sectarian strife/chaos in the region.

— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) May 8, 2018

KSA always believed that the int’l community cannot address Iran's pursuit of WMD, without addressing the mass destruction Iran is inflecting on the region. Any future deal must address Iran’s ballistic missile program, and its increasing financial/military support for terrorism.

— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) May 8, 2018

Saudi Arabia officially reaffirmed its support for and welcomed the strategy previously announced by the US president toward Iran. The kingdom said it hopes that the international community will adopt a firm and united stance toward Iran and its hostile and destabilizing actions against the stability of the region and its support for terrorist groups, especially Hezbollah and Houthi militias.