King Salman and Obama agree on desire for inclusive government in Yemen

The two leaders held talks on the conflict in Yemen and also the threat from Iran.

US President Barack Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting at the White House in Washington on September. EPA

WASHINGTON // Hosting Saudi Arabia’s monarch for the first time, President Barack Obama said on Friday the US shares King Salman’s desire for an inclusive, functioning government in Yemen that can relieve that Arab country’s humanitarian crisis. Their talks also addressed the Iran nuclear deal, a source of lingering tension in the US-Saudi Arabia relationship.

Since March, the US has been supporting a Saudi-led intervention against Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels, who have chased the country’s US-recognised president into exile. But the Obama administration also is concerned about the conflict’s rising death toll that is now in the thousands, while aid groups have lamented their inability to provide life-saving support to all Yemenis in need.

“We share concerns about Yemen and the need to restore a function government that is inclusive and that can relieve the humanitarian situation there,” Mr Obama told reporters who were allowed into the Oval Office for brief comments from both leaders. The meeting, Mr Obama noted, was taking place at a “challenging time in world affairs, particularly in the Middle East.”

Beyond Yemen, Saudi Arabia wants the US to increase support for Syrian rebels fighting not only the ISIL, but also seeking to topple President Bashar Al Assad’s embattled government after four-and-a-half years of civil war. And the Saudis want assurances from the US that the Iran nuclear deal comes with a broader effort to counter Iran’s destabilising activities in the region.

Four years after Mr Obama demanded Mr Al Assad’s removal, the Syrian leader remains in power through significant help from Iran. The US has largely abandoned efforts to uproot the Iranian-backed militia Hizbollah from its dominant position in Lebanon. Washington has struggled to limit Tehran’s influence in Iraq. Despite the Saudi Arabia intervention in Yemen, the Houthis maintain their hold over much of the country.

The visit of King Salman, who ascended the throne in January, is forcing the administration to address these concerns. To that end, Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that the US was working with its Arab allies in the Gulf on a ballistic missile defence system, special operations training and large-scale military exercises.

And Mr Obama said Friday’s discussions would canvass the importance of implementing the nuclear agreement.

The accord will provide Iran hundreds of billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions in exchange for a decade of constraints on the country’s nuclear programme. Congress will soon consider a resolution of disapproval of the final package reached by the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran in July, but Senate Democrats have enough votes to prevent the Republican-led measure’s success.

King Salman, in brief remarks through an interpreter, characterised his visit as symbolic of the deep ties between the allies.

“I’m happy to come to a friendly country to meet a friend,” he said. “We want to work together for world peace.”

* Associated Press