Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, referring to recent policy disagreements with the United States, said on Monday such differences were part of relations between any two countries and were mostly on tactics rather than on goals.
Referring to Syria, Prince Saud al-Faisal added that the kingdom realized the importance of talks as a means of ending conflict, but such discussions could not go on indefinitely.
Prince Saud al-Faisal also demanded that Iran leave Syria, saying Tehran was helping President Bashar al-Assad strike his own people.
The minister was speaking at a joint news conference with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry, who is visiting Saudi Arabia on the latest stop on a tour partly aimed at defusing tensions with Arab powers.
For his part, US Secretary of State John Kerry played down any rift with Saudi Arabia, saying relations between the two countries were strategic and enduring and that both agreed negotiations were the only way to stop Syria's civil war.
US' Kerry added that Washington would not let Iran acquire nuclear weapons.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Kerry met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, State Department officials said.
Saudi Arabia, Washington's main Arab ally, is angry with Washington over what it sees as a weak foreign policy that it believes has allowed Israeli settlement building to continue in the Palestinian territories and conflict to persist in Syria.
Saudi concerns are partly founded on a fear that U.S. President Barack Obama's moves to thaw tensions with Iran will give Riyadh's main regional foe an opportunity to extend its influence in Arab countries.
Speaking shortly before his meeting with foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, Kerry reiterated that the United States was determined that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon.
He added in remarks to U.S. Embassy staff in Riyadh that Washington's relationship with the Saudis was an important one as the region faces challenges from the transition in Egypt to civil war in Syria.
"We have very important things to talk about to make sure the Saudi-US relationship is on track, rolling forward and doing things that we need to accomplish," Kerry said before his meeting with the king.
REUTERS
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