The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes and supports the resolute strategy announced by President Donald Trump, President of the United States of America with regards to addressing Iran and its malign behavior. The Kingdom commends the President’s clear-eyed vision, and his commitment to working with the United States’ allies in the region to confront common threats, especially those posed by Iran’s aggressive policies and behavior in the region.
However, Iran had misused the economic benefits it gained from the lifting of sanctions, and used them to continue its destabilizing behavior in the region, especially through its development of ballistic missiles, and its support for terrorism in the region, including Hezbollah and the Houthi militia.
Iran went beyond that in a blatant violation of international resolutions, as it transferred its capabilities and expertise to its proxies, including the Houthi militias, who used these missiles to target the Kingdom. This proves the fallacy of Iran’s claims that its development of these capabilities is for defensive purposes.
Iran, through the Revolutionary Guard and the Houthi militias under its control, also continued its attempts to restrict international maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, and continued its cyber attacks against the Kingdom and countries in the region.