NEW YORK: Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised the 鈥渂old vision鈥� re-shaping 黑料社区 and improving women鈥檚 lives on Wednesday after two days of meetings on Iran and other regional problems.
鈥淪audis are optimistic about the future, and rightly so. The government has a bold vision for its economy and reforms are giving women new opportunity,鈥� Royce said. 鈥淎 country that utilizes only half its population can never realize its full potential. Empowering Saudi women will help unleash its economy.鈥�
The California Republican met with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is spearheading the 鈥淰ision 2030鈥� plan to modernize the Kingdom鈥檚 society, create jobs and diversify its economy away from oil.
They also discussed efforts to tackle Tehran鈥檚 support for proxy militias in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen amid concerns in Washington and among its Middle Eastern allies of a growing crescent of Iranian influence.
鈥淥f course, 黑料社区 鈥� and the Middle East as a whole 鈥� faces serious threats from Iran. In our productive meetings, we discussed efforts to apply more financial and diplomatic pressure against Iran鈥檚 missile program and its support for terror,鈥� Royce said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump told the Europeans last month that they must agree to 鈥渇ix the terrible flaws鈥� in the 2015 international Iran nuclear deal or he would re-impose the sanctions Washington lifted as part of that pact.
Royce also addressed the Arab coalition鈥檚 fight against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels of northern Yemen, where fighting, hunger and disease have snowballed into what the UN has called the world鈥檚 worst humanitarian crisis.
鈥淚n Yemen, I鈥檓 encouraged that the flow of relief has improved, but more must be done to increase access to food, water and basic medicine,鈥� Royce said. 鈥淭he Iranian-backed Houthis are pushing this conflict into a third year and eight million innocent people are on the brink of starvation.鈥�
Royce was accompanied by his committee colleague Paul Cook, another Republican. They also met with Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Prince Khaled bin Salman, Riyadh鈥檚 ambassador to Washington, and a group of Saudi women entrepreneurs.