KSA tells Trump Iran has lost leverage in Syria and Lebanon

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman has met with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly about the private meeting.

The defense minister conveyed Wednesday the view of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader, that Iran has lost leverage in Syria and Lebanon but is still managing to provide support to the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq, according to one of the people familiar with Prince Khalid's talks with Trump and Vance.

The Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen earlier this week said they fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker, days after declaring they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

The fighting between the United States and Iran has recently entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies in Iraq.