Obama’s plan to meet Saudi King Salman on the one-on-one basis a day before the gathering of leaders at the presidential retreat of Camp David has failed.
Considering a cancelation by the Saudi King and other GCC leaders to skip Obama’s invitation to White House, Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Obama will have to work hard now to convince the Arab allies that they do not need to fear fallout from any nuclear deal with Iran.
“Right now they feel that they have no support from this administration so he has a steep hill to climb,” said McCain, pointing to Saudi Arabia’s decision to act unilaterally in Yemen.
McCain said that’s why the Saudis gave Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of the U.S. Central Command, only “an hour’s notice they were going to strike Yemen.” Saudi Arabia has led airstrikes against Iranian-backed rebels who have toppled the Yemeni government.