U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that Israel has the "right to defend itself" in relation to the recent violence on its border with the Gaza Strip.
Former CIA director Pompeo, who embarked on his first foreign trip immediately after being confirmed as secretary of state last week, also urged the Palestinians and Israelis to resume political engagement toward a peace agreement.
Speaking at a news conference in Amman alongside Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Pompeo said, "We certainly believe that the Israelis and Palestinians need to have political engagement. We urge the Palestinians to return to that political dialogue."
The remarks came one day after Pompeo met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and told him that the U.S. was deeply concerned by Iran's "destabilizing and malign activities."
Before arriving in Israel, the former CIA director met Saudi King Salman in Riyadh and stressed the need for unity among Gulf allies as Washington aims to muster support for new sanctions against Iran.
In Israel, Pompeo told Netanyahu that the U.S. would withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if its flaws could not be fixed.
"President [Donald] Trump's been pretty clear," Pompeo said. "This deal is very flawed. He's directed the administration to try and fix it, and if we can't fix it, he's going to withdraw from the deal. It's pretty straightforward."
The whirlwind trip, which includes NATO in Brussels and Middle East allies, came only hours after Pompeo was confirmed as Trump's top diplomat. He has not even visited his own office yet, he told Netanyahu.
Speaking alongside the Israeli leader, Pompeo said in Tel Aviv: "We remain deeply concerned about Iran's dangerous escalation of threats towards Israel and the region. … The U.S. is with Israel in this fight.
"Strong cooperation with close allies like [Israel] is critical to our efforts to counter Iran's destabilizing and malign activities through the Middle East, and indeed, throughout the world."
Pompeo also said that the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, planned for May 14, was "recognizing [the] reality" of "Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the seat of its government."
The U.S.'s official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and decision to relocate its embassy there has sparked outrage among Palestinians, who view parts of Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Netanyahu called Pompeo a "true friend of Israel" and echoed his focus on Iran, stressing the closeness of U.S. and Israeli cooperation on the issue.
"I think the greatest threat to the world and to our two countries, and to all countries, is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons, and specifically the attempt by Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. We have had a very productive talk today on this subject," Netanyahu said.
Changing direction from his fierce opposition to the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran to reach the nuclear deal in 2015, which he called a "historic mistake," Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel was willing to support Trump's efforts to strengthen the 2015 agreement.
"Iran must be stopped. Its quest for nuclear bombs must be stopped. Its aggression must be stopped, and we're committed to stopping it together," he said.
Earlier, in Saudi Arabia, Pompeo said the U.S. would abandon the 2015 deal unless talks with European partners yield improvements to ensure Iran never possesses nuclear weapons.
"Iran destabilizes this entire region. It supports proxy militias and terrorist groups. It is an arms dealer to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It supports the murderous Assad regime [in Syria] as well," he said, speaking at a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
Pompeo also addressed the rift between Qatar and its neighbors, telling reporters, "We are hopeful that they will, in their own way, figure out how to remove the dispute between them."
Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and colluding with Iran.
Pompeo's trip comes as Trump's May 12 headline for fixing or potentially abandoning the nuclear agreement looms. Trump has urged world powers to fix the deal's "terrible flaws" or he will withdraw the U.S.'s support, essentially burying it.
He has called on Gulf allies to contribute funding and troops to stabilize areas in Iraq and Syria where the U.S.-led coalition has largely defeated Islamic State jihadists.
Earlier this month, Jubeir said Saudi Arabia would be prepared to send troops into Syria under the U.S.-led coalition if a decision is made to widen it.
Asked about Saudi troops on the ground in Syria, Pompeo said: "We will sit down and talk about ... how to best make sure that this is not America alone working on this and it's the Gulf states working alongside us."
On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected U.S. and European talks over changes to the nuclear accord and dismissed Trump as a "tradesman" who lacks the qualifications to deal with a complex international pact.
"We've certainly made some [progress with the Europeans]," Pompeo said on Sunday. "There is still work to do."
Pompeo added that Saudi leaders had told him they would support any fixes to the agreement.
Britain said on Sunday that it, France and Germany – which signed the 2015 deal along with Russia, China and the European Union – agreed that the accord was the best way to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Rouhani spoke by telephone on Sunday and agreed to work together in the coming weeks to preserve the 2015 agreement, the Elysee said in a statement.
"[We] committed to continue working closely together and with the U.S. on how to tackle the range of challenges that Iran poses – including those issues that a new deal might cover," a statement from British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said.
The 2015 agreement limited Iran's enrichment of uranium for nuclear fuel to help ensure it could not be turned to developing bomb material. In exchange, Iran secured the lifting of most of the international sanctions that had been crippling Iran's economy.
Iran has repeatedly said its ballistic missile program has nothing to do with its nuclear work and is nonnegotiable.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, Pompeo told reporters: "We've got a common challenge in Iran, I think they all recognize that. We're hopeful that they will in their own way figure out their dispute between them."
