Mike Pompeo has arrived in Jeddah to discuss policy towards Iran. He was met by Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Assaf, the Saudi foreign minister JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP/GETTYMike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has arrived in the Gulf to try to re-forge Western policy towards Iran with America’s closest allies in the region. Mr Pompeo landed this morning in Jeddah, where he met King Salman and is due to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Like Mr Pompeo, the prince has pushed a hard line against Tehran, only to see President Trump last week order off air strikes at the last moment, saying he wanted to do a deal and “make Iran great again”. Mr Trump followed that up with an interview over the weekend in which he admitted that his administration was torn into two factions and that he found John Bolton, his national security adviser, to be particularly hawkish.

Source: The Times June 23, 2019 23:04 UTC