Saudi Arabia accused Iran of 'taking advantage of the revenue generated by the lifting of the sanctions to destabilise the region'
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have expressed their support for President Donald Trump's decision on Tuesday to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
In a statement released following the White House announcement, the UAE said it agreed with President Trump's assertion that the agreement does not guarantee Iran would refrain from pursuing a nuclear weapons in the future.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation called on the international community and the other states that are party to the agreement, to support President Trump’s stand for making the Middle East a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, in order to maintain global security and stability.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia said it "supports and welcomes" the decision.
"The kingdom supports and welcomes the steps announced by the US president towards withdrawing from the nuclear deal... and reinstating economic sanctions against Iran," the foreign ministry said.
Bahrain also issued a statement, via its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcoming the US announcement.
“This decision reflects the commitment of the United States to confront Iranian policies and Iran's continuous attempts to spread terrorism in the region in full violation of international norms and laws,” the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“The agreement was characterised by several shortcomings, most important of which was not addressing Iran's ballistic missile programme, or Iran's threat to the security and stability of the region through its interference in the internal affairs of other countries as well as its support for militias in these countries."
The US Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, strategically located between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Trump on Tuesday announced the US withdrawal from the "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Iran, as Washington moved to reinstate punishing sanctions against the Islamic republic.
After consulting with US "friends" across the Middle East, Trump said his country would "not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail".
Following his address, the US leader signed a presidential memorandum to start reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime.
Saudi Arabia accused Iran of "taking advantage of the revenue generated by the lifting of the sanctions to destabilise the region", the foreign ministry said.
Riyadh's ambassador to the United States, and son of the Saudi Arabian king, on Tuesday did not hold back in linking the nuclear deal with his country's interests across the region.
"Since deal was inked... the (Iranian) 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," or Saudi Arabia, tweeted Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia and the United States say Iran is arming Yemeni rebels, known as the Huthis, who are fighting their country's Riyadh-backed government.
The rebels have amped up missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen to the north, in recent months.
Share This Post
