Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron and his accompanying delegation. They discussed regional and international developments and ways of promoting bilateral cooperation in various fields, according to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik started a three day visit to Muscat to hold talks with Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman and other senior officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks with King Abdullah amidst heightened tensions between the West and Tehran.
Cameron’s first visit to the oil rich Saudi Arabia comes as Western countries, including the UK, have stepped up their efforts to pressurise Iranian leadership to give up nuclear programme, which Iran repeatedly said was a peaceful.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s Government is among one of the staunch supporters of tougher sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Experts say the British Premier’s visit to Saudi Arabia is crucial as the UK is trying to further strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia especially in the wake of the possible oil embargo on Iran.
British-Saudi, bilateral trade is worth $24 billion annually, while Saudi investments in Britain worth $95 billion.
The talks between the British premier and the Saudi monarch will focus on regional and international issues of common interest.
“South Korea’s prime minister is visiting Oman and the United Arab Emirates from Friday to discuss oil supply, as Seoul seeks a waiver from toughened US sanctions on Iran and looks into options including reducing crude imports from the Islamic Republic,” according to reports emerged from Muscat.
South Korea, buys 10 percent of its oil from Iran and Korean refiners have struck deals for 2012 supplies with Iran for slightly more than they purchased last year, but are also keeping an eye out for potential replacements.
US sanctions that President Barack Obama signed into law on New Year’s Eve could prevent refiners from paying for Iran’s oil from July. Tehran has warned it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint, if sanctions are imposed on its crude exports.
South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik left Seoul for Oman and the UAE “to build stable energy supply bases,” according to an official statement from the Prime Minister’s office. Iran, is working hard to repatriate oil payments under previous sanctions targeting financial transactions, has an estimated $5 billion of oil money stuck in accounts in South Korea.