Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's King Salman told US President Barack Obama in a telephone call on Thursday that he hoped a final deal with Iran could be reached that would strengthen regional and global security, state media reported.
"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed his hope that reaching a final binding deal would strengthen the stability and security of the region and the world," Saudi Press Agency reported early on Friday, using Salman's official title.
Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement on Thursday on curbing Iran's nuclear programme for at least a decade. The framework, which includes gradually lifting Western sanctions on Iran, is contingent on reaching a final pact by June 30.
Saudi Arabia, which is locked in a region-wide tussle for power with Iran, is worried that by loosening sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Tehran will have greater scope to back proxies Riyadh opposes across the Middle East.
However, despite its private reservations, Riyadh has publicly backed the talks between Iran and world powers since they were announced in late 2013 so long as they led to a deal that would guarantee Tehran could not gain nuclear weapons.
Russia sees 'very good' chance of final deal
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday there was a "very good" chance that Iran and six world powers would work out a final agreement on Tehran's nuclear programme due by the end of June, Russia's RIA news agency reported. An initial agreement was reached on Thursday after marathon talks in Switzerland and experts are now working on technical details to turn the framework deal into a final one.
Turkey hopes Tehran will go further
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday welcomed an initial agreement between Iran and world powers on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme but said he hoped Tehran would go further by the deadline for a final deal at the end of June. "When we look at the positions (of the) P5+1 right now, Iran is still below the line we were able to bring in (previous negotiations) in 2010, but we hope Iran will come to that line," Cavusoglu said during a trip to Lithuania.
