Pompeo discusses Iran nuclear deal in Saudi

Riyadh: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on a three-day Middle East tour, has discussed Iran nuclear deal in Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh.

The Middle East tour is also inclusive of Jordan and Israel.

Pompeo kicked off his first overseas trip as President Trump’s new secretary of State earlier this week, traveling to Brussels for a NATO ministers meeting before starting on his Middle East tour.

Pompeo branded Tehran as the world’s “greatest sponsor of terrorism” and reiterated US President Donald Trump’s threat to pull out of the nuclear deal if it remains unrevised.

“We are determined to make sure [Iran] never possesses a nuclear weapon.The Iran deal in its current form does not provide that assurance,” The Wall Street Journal reported, Pompeo as saying on Sunday at a joint news conference in Riyadh with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

Trump has lambasted the nuclear agreement reached with Iran in July 2015 as the “worst deal ever” and has often threatened to terminate it.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed between six countries in 2015 – Iran, US, Britain, Germany, Russia, France and China for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limitations to the country’s nuclear programme.

Pompeo, who served as Trump’s CIA director, was confirmed by the Senate to be secretary of State on Thursday. He replaced Rex Tillerson, who was ousted earlier this year.

ANI