Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal met today with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in Riyadh. During their meeting, they discussed bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common interest. While discussing efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful means, Prince Saud stated, “[solution] is possible through the League of Arab States to make the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Middle East region free of weapons of mass destruction and that in return, it is not possible to grant Iran an undeserved deal.”

On the escalating crisis in Yemen, Prince Saud reiterated support to the Yemeni government and stressed the importance of the call by President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to hold a conference in Riyadh under the GCC umbrella and attended by all factors of Yemen who are interested in maintaining security and stability. “Our aim is to provide the vehicle for the president to return peacefully to Yemen and provide the leadership as required to bring this country back,” he stated.

Other topics at the forefront of regional issues addressed in the press conference included the tragedy in Syria, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, strengthening Saudi-Iraqi relations and joint efforts within the international coalition to fight Daaesh ISIS.

The meeting was attended by Vice Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Relations Prince Dr. Torki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Information and Technology Prince Ambassador Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nizar Madani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Bilateral Relations Dr. Khalid Al-Gandan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Cultural Affairs Dr. Yousef Al-Sadoun, and Director of Media Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Osama Nugali.