26 May, 2017
In appearances alongside the Israeli President and Prime Minister, Trump stressed his sense that the Iranian threat has brought many Arab countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, closer toward a peaceful and more collaborative relationship with Israel.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, 68, was re-elected for a second term with 57% of the vote in presidential elections last Friday, promising better relations with the rest of the world and more jobs for Iran's youth.
Mr Rouhani also said Iran would continue its ballistic missile programme, which has been heavily criticised by the Trump administration.
Iran and Azerbaijan have major plan in the field of transportation and are working on a joint railroad project which will link the European Union and Russian Federation, through Azerbaijan, to Iran's Bandar Abbas in Persian Gulf.
The 68-year-old cleric, a political moderate within Iran who secured a resounding victory over a hard-line opponent, called relations with the United States "a curvy road" even as he touted the 2015 nuclear accord Iran secured with the Obama administration and other world powers as a "win-win" agreement. He'll serve another four years in the post.
Rouhani, who fronted Tehran's deal with six major powers in 2015 to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, said the USA administration lacked knowledge about the Middle East.
The nuclear agreement has been controversial in both the United States and Iran, and it emerged as a top campaign issue in Iran's election. In February, just two weeks after taking office, the Trump administration sanctioned more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for a ballistic missile test, warning it had put the Islamic Republic "on notice". Speaking alongside his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh on Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he hoped that Rouhani would use his mandate to enforce broad change.
"He set the foundation for the creation of a partnership to fight extremism and terrorism and terror financing...and so overall it was an incredible success", Adel al-Jubeir said of the speech.
Last Friday, the Iranians chose to stand on the side of popular sovereignty rather than divine sovereignty in yet another election that had all the frustrating signs of making the fate of a nation. He signed a $110 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia during the visit aimed at addressing the kingdom's defense needs while scaling back US military involvement in specific operations.
Ultimate power in Iran rests not with the president but with the supreme leader, who is chosen by a clerical panel and has the final say over all matters of state.
