Washington— US President Barack Obama received at the White House here Friday Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense.

The Deputy Crown Prince conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to President Obama. For his part, President Obama sent his greetings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. During the meeting, they discussed the distinguished historical and bilateral relations between the two countries.

President Obama expressed his country’s commitment to continue cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to serve the interests of the two countries, and to work with the Kingdom to support the security and stability of the Middle East region.

The meeting also dealt with the economic vision and development of the Kingdom. Obama welcomed the Saudi Vision 2030, the National Transformation Programs (NTP) of Saudi Arabia as well as boosting cooperation with the Kingdom in its future plans.

Prince Muhammad, meanwhile, underscored Saudi Arabia’s “strong support for the Paris Agreement and welcomed cooperation with the United States on clean energy issues.”

In a statement, the White House said that Obama had expressed his country’s commitment to continue cooperation with Saudi Arabia and for the two nations to work together to support the security and stability of the Middle East region, and the challenges the region faced.

The White House statement added: “President Obama met this morning in the Oval Office with Prince Muhammad Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, to continue discussions begun in April at the US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh.

“The president expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s contributions to the campaign against Daesh (so-called IS).”

Reviewing recent Iraqi gains against Daesh, the statement said, Obama and Prince Muhammad discussed steps to support the Iraqi people, including increased Gulf support to fund urgent humanitarian and stabilization needs.

On Syria the statement added that the pair reaffirmed the importance of supporting the cessation of hostilities and a political transition away from Bashar Al-Assad.

They also agreed to build support for Libya’s Government of National Accord. “With regard to Yemen,” the statement added “the president welcomed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to concluding a political settlement of the conflict and of GCC support to address urgent humanitarian needs and rebuild the country.”

On Iran, they discussed its ‘destabilizing activities’ and agreed to explore avenues that could lead to a de-escalation of tensions. “They also discussed the important role Saudi Arabia can play in addressing extremist ideology,” the press statement added.

The two met following a series of meetings with business representatives and government officials. The Deputy Crown Prince’s visit to the US Thursday included a meeting at the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, during which the pair discussed the situation in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni community in the US staged a demonstration and procession on Friday before the White House in Washington supporting Decisive Storm and Operation Restoration of Hope being carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen. They denounced crimes by the Houthi and deposed president Saleh militias and Iranian interference in Yemen.

The demonstrators thanked the Kingdom and the Arab coalition. The demonstration coincided with the Obama-Prince Muhammad Bin Salman meeting in the White House.

The demonstrators carried the flags of the Kingdom and pictures of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince and Deputy Crown Prince