Trump in Riyadh: President Managed to Create Unified Front With Key Arab Allies

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh has created a unified Arab front to fight terrorism and has reassured Saudi Arabia that Washington too views Iran as a destabilizing force, Feierstein said.

"Overall, the visit was a major success for the President," Feierstein, who also served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, said on Monday. "He achieved his basic objectives of creating a unified front of the US with our key friends and partners in the Arab and Islamic world."

Trump also got the Arab nations to focus on the need to join together against destabilizing forces in the region, Feierstein, who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, added.

"The visit was particularly productive in healing the rift between the United States and Saudi Arabia that developed at the end of the Obama administration… The Saudis were mostly concerned with the developing US policy approach to Iran, which they feared would come at their expense," he stated.

Feierstein also said the Saudis viewed Trump's strong statement on Iran and commitment on expanded arms sales, as reassurance that the United States has returned to being a strong partner for Saudi Arabia in addressing what it considers to be its primary regional threat from Iran.