US president Barack Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on June 3rd for talks on Iran's nuclear program and Washington's renewed push for a Middle East peace plan, the White House said on today.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is a staunch US ally in the region and has been a key player in the drive for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which Mr Obama has declared a top foreign policy priority.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama would meet Saudi King Abdullah and would also discuss terrorism.
The visit comes at a time when Mr Obama is seeking to build an alliance of moderate Muslim nations to pressure Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, which Washington fears is a cover to build a nuclear bomb.
Saudi Arabia is among the United States' top 15 trading partners. Last year, two-way trade totaled $67.3 billion, which equaled about 2 per cent of total US exports and imports. Saudi Arabia exported $54.8 million worth of oil and few other products to the United States in 2008, and imported $12.5 billion of U.S. goods.
After Saudi Arabia, Mr Obama will travel on to Egypt, where he is scheduled to give a major policy speech to the Muslim world.
Reuters