In a call Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, President Donald Trump acknowledged the “importance of rigorously enforcing” the nuclear deal with Iran and “of addressing Iran’s destabilizing regional activities,” according to a summary provided by the White House.

During the call, Salman accepted a request from the president to establish safe zones for civilians in Yemen and Syria, and both agreed to work together to fight “radical Islamic extremism.”

King Salman also invited Trump to “lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future, economically and socially, for the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region.”

They concluded their talk by expressing their “personal commitment” to consult “on a range of regional and bilateral issues.”

Saudi Arabia has become concerned with Iran’s growing regional influence in the wake of the 2015 nuclear deal, which allowed the Islamic Republic to emerge from its international isolation.

In October, the kingdom carried out naval exercises in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman “in preparation for the protection of the marine interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any possible aggression,” according to Saudi Rear Admiral Majed bin Hazza’a al-Qahtani. At the time, Iran warned Saudi Arabia to avoid sailing in international waters next to Iranian territory.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, said in May that the “strategic relationship with the U.S. will remain, from the Saudi point of view,” though he added that “there needs to be a reevaluation and recalibration of the relationship.”

According to a 2015 report by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the U.S. is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner and the kingdom is the biggest market for U.S. exports in the region.

[Photo: Amer cj / YouTube ]