USA seeks UAE and Saudi's support against Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making surprise visits to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to ensure they are "strategically aligned" on Iran. It comes amid escalating tensions after Iran shot down a US drone.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that he would seek out a "global coalition" during talks with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following Iran's downing of an American drone.

"We'll be talking with them about how to make sure that we are all strategically aligned and how we can build out a global coalition," Pompeo said.

He said he would visit the two countries on his way to India, where he begins a visit on Tuesday.

Pompeo said the goal of his talks with the Saudi kingdom and the UAE would be to deny Iran "the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system, to build out their missile program."

US prepared to negotiate

Pompeo echoed earlier comments by US President Donald Trump, saying the US is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in an attempt to ease tensions.

Tensions between Iran and the US have been escalating since Trump withdrew the US from a global nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and began pressuring the country with economic sanctions.

Further sanctions are due to be announced on Monday.

Trump has also indicated that he would also be prepared to seek a deal to strengthen Iran's flagging economy.

"I think they want to negotiate. And I think they want to make a deal. And my deal is nuclear. Look, they're not going to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.

Iran dismissed the impact of any new US sanctions, saying they were "just propaganda, as all sanctions ... have been imposed and there are no more sanctions left," state-run news agency IRIB quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying.

law/amp (AFP, AP)