RIYADH - US President Donald Trump held a meeting on Wednesday with Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss normalizing bilateral ties, while expressing his willingness to reach a deal with Iran.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud online during the meeting, Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Trump's meeting with al-Sharaa -- the first between a US president and a Syrian leader in decades -- took place on the sidelines of a summit between Trump and leaders from Gulf states.

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During the summit, Trump noted in a speech that the normalization of relations between the United States and Syria began with his meeting with al-Sharaa.

He also called on Syria to join the US-brokered Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel, despite the Israeli military having conducted frequent airstrikes and ground operations in Syria since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

On Tuesday, Trump announced at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia that he would lift sanctions on Syria in a major policy shift.

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"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump said, noting that the United States had taken the first steps toward normalizing relations with Damascus.

During the summit with leaders of the Gulf states, the US president also mentioned the ongoing indirect talks with Iran on Tehran's nuclear program and the removal of Washington's sanctions.

"I want to make a deal with Iran … but for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons," the US president said, while calling on "all nations" to enforce the sanctions he had just placed on Iran, which he described as "the most destructive force" in the region.

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Trump's remarks prompted a scathing response from Iran, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Trump was employing "sheer deception by misplacing the true source of threat."

Trump is on the second day of his first major foreign visit since taking office, which includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia, which began on Tuesday, Trump secured investment commitments worth $600 billion from the Gulf nation.